Taller Portobelo Norte (Portobelo Workshop North in Spanish) is a collective of emerging and established artists and artist/scholars geared toward creating an international, cross cultural, intergenerational, multidisciplinary exchange of ideas and inspirations.
Founded in 2001 by a group of Taller Portobelo/Spelman College Summer Art Colony alumni, Taller Portobelo Norte was created as a way for multidisciplinary artists throughout the United States to stay connected, share exhibition and career development information and help further the critical discussion and examination of the art and culture(s) of the African Diaspora, especially as they are manifested in Latin America and the Caribbean.
To this end, Taller Portobelo Norte, in conjunction with Taller Portobelo, our sister collective in Portobelo, Panama and Spelman College, created programming geared toward the emerging and professional artists interested in exploring non-traditional, experimental and underdeveloped areas in art.
These have included our monthly artist talk series, Wet Paint, which featured such noteworthy artists as Eric Mack and Charles Nelson, the Taller Portobelo Norte Summer Art Residency for emerging and professional visual artists and creative writers, the International Artist in Residency Program, as well as trips to Portobelo, Panama during the Black Christ Festival and Congo Carnival.
Taller Portobelo Norte has worked closely with Taller Portobelo in creating a year round calendar of trips, programs and workshops that further our shared mission of gaining exposure for and preserving the artistic traditions of the African Diaspora.