BY KAMAHRIA HOPKINS
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER |
The concept of being both Latino and American
came to life Friday with a colorful slide show of artwork in a Doubletree Hotel ballroom.
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| Xavier Cortada, keynote
speaker at today's Heartland Latino Leadership Conference, painted "Familia
Unida" for the event. The painting will go on display at El Museo Latino. |
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Xavier Cortada, a Cuban-American painter,
attorney and activist based in Miami, spoke to more than 500 people at the third Heartland
Latino Leadership Conference.
Cortada, the keynote speaker, spoke about a
united family where Latinos become a part of the American tapestry.
The different art pieces that he showed represent
"issues of cultural identity and how we negotiate identity as immigrants in
America," Cortada said. "Being Latino and being American, being both and being
neither."
He says he uses art as a vehicle for
communication.
Cortada showed a series of his paintings. The
main one depicts Cortada as a member of a fraternity at his alma mater, the University of
Miami, in a toga. He also is wearing a Mexican sombrero despite the fact that he is Cuban.
Cortada said the painting is representative of
the struggles that one faces with identity.
"We as a society, as we travel, how do we
capture our culture and our cultural identity in Omaha, Miami, Los Angles?" Cortada
asked the crowd. "The beautiful thing about Latino culture is that it is as diverse
as the world."
The daylong conference - meant to help those in
the Latino community help one another gain greater leadership, economic and education
skills - underscored the growing power of the Midlands' burgeoning Latino community.
Among those at the Latino conference were Gov.
Mike Johanns, U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and Omaha Archbishop Elden
Curtiss. Event organizers asked Cortada to paint one of his murals especially for this
year's conference.
The painting, "Familia Unida," shows a
family trying to strike unity between its cultural heritage and a new urban setting.
The painting will be on display at El Museo
Latino, 4701 S. 25th St. Audience members received free posters of the painting.
World-Herald staff writer C. David
Kotok contributed to this report.
