Casa de la Cultura is a nonprofit dedicated to embracing and promoting authentic Latino culture within Lexington, through dance, music and other cultural classes, programming and events. Photo by Paul Martin
The week of April 19-25, Smiley Pete Publishing, this magazine’s parent company, will present Crave Taco Week at more than 20 participating restaurants across Lexington. Participating restaurants will offer special and unique taco plates, crafted specially for the event, for $6 a plate. Since 2019, Smiley Pete has partnered with the local nonprofit Casa de la Cultura for Crave Taco Week. The organization receives a portion of the event’s proceeds and helps provide cultural programming at a handful or participating restaurants. We wanted to introduce our readers to the organization and the wonderful work it is doing to preserve and promote traditional Latino culture in Lexington.
Casa de la Cultura is a multicultural nonprofit committed to sharing and embracing authentic Latino culture in Lexington. Since it was founded in 2013 by Monica Calleja, a Mexican immigrant who has been living in Kentucky for more than 20 years, the organization has offered dance groups, artisan workshops and other cultural programming with the underlying goal of helping preserve and promote traditional Latino-based culture and language skills to children and adults alike.
According to Mercedes Harn, a Spanish teacher at Athens-Chilesburg Elementary and the board president of Casa de la Cultura, immigrants, especially those from Latin America, often lose their sense of identity when they come to the United States.
“Second- and third-generation Americans don’t know about the culture of their first-generation relatives, and they feel a little bit embarrassed to speak Spanish,” said Harn, a native of Lima, Peru, who added that her own children prefer to speak English.
Casa de La Cultura provides the younger generation with opportunities to learn about Hispanic culture and to learn and practice the language. Harn says this is important because even though that culture might not be a part of their day-to-day lives, it’s still a part of their identities.
The organization offers a wide range of programs, activities and workshops, all of which are open to the public. Its Youth Mariachi Ensemble gives kids the chance to meet new friends while learning about authentic mariachi music; a folk dance group helps promote teamwork and encourages family and friends to show support for one another. Language boot camps allow English and Spanish language learners to practice their skills and build helpful, cross-cultural relationships with native Spanish-speakers.
Casa de la Cultura has also been hosting periodic artisan workshops since 2013. Participants have made everything from piñatas and corn-husk crafts to alebrijes – brightly colored sculptures of fantastical creatures and animals. Some participants have even sold their workshop creations to generate extra income.
Since 2014, the organization has been hosting an annual Mother’s Day festival. Taking place at Masterson Station Park, the event serves as a reminder of the importance of Mother’s Day celebrations in South American countries while also providing an opportunity to reach more Latino women in the community and share information about women’s health, domestic violence, higher education and more.
Ensuring that the Spanish speaking community in Lexington has access to important information has always been a top priority for Casa de la Cultura, but it’s become more important than ever in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organization offers music classes for children and adults, as well as curating performance opportunites at various local events. Photo by Paul Martin
“We work hard to earn the trust of our community so they know they can look to us for reliable information and resources,” Calleja explained. Thanks to Facebook, the organization has been able to keep its followers informed about public health updates, guidelines and where to find help during the pandemic.
Harn said she has been worried about the fact that the information disseminated to the public about COVID-19 is mostly in English, automatically putting non-English speakers in a position to be less informed. “Everything has to be translated for the Facebook page, but we have a moral obligation to do that for the Latino population,” she said. The organization also works closely with the community radio station RadioLex to ensure public health information is being distributed in Spanish.
Like many other nonprofits and organizations, the work of Casa de la Cultura’s has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. In order to stay active, in-person events and programs were replaced by virtual classes and pre-recorded lessons. Virtual fund-raising has proven to be a challenge. Still, the group has stayed active over the past year and is looking forward to once again partnering with Smiley Pete Publishing for Crave Taco Week, April 19-25. In 2019 and 2020, Casa de la Cultura sent members of its youth mariachi orchestra and dance group to perform at a few of the participating restaurants during Taco Week and is hoping to show off some of their new material during this year’s event (at the time of publication, those details were still pending).
“It’s a great opportunity to let everyone in Lexington know about us, our mission and our programs,” Calleja said.
While the organization is currently run entirely by volunteers, organizers hope to be able to hire a full-time employee in the near future. And, although it doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar location yet, Harn says the organization is hoping to find “a casa for casa” in the near future.
If you’re interested in learning more about Casa de la Cultura’s work or are interested in getting involved, visit casadelaculturaky.org or check out its Facebook page (Casa de la Cultura KY).