Almost a year after field workers began a Latino arts survey here, more than 50 groups and individuals who practice everything from traditional cooking to weaving to contemporary religious singing have been identified.

“There is a very strong hub of Hispanic contemporary singers and groups that have multiplied and are very self-sufficient,” said Liza Blair, project leader.

“The majority of them are using the roots of their own homeland and incorporating it into the music,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to find that hub of music.”

The Tennessee Arts Commission and Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga are conducting the arts survey to find what types of traditional arts are being created here. Ms. Blair said the project is designed to find out what resources local artists need to help preserve traditional arts that often are lost from generation to generation.

Marisol Jimenez, an English as a Second Language teacher at East Side Elementary and one of the survey’s three field workers, said she wasn’t aware of all the things her students’ mothers could do.

“One mama was a necklace maker, and they used to do that for money in her country (Guatemala), so in her mind that was a tradition she had to pass on to her daughter (so) in case she could not make it financially she would have some type of way to make income,” she said.

Sister Celia Sanchez, who leads the choir at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and most recently helped organized a Guatemalan dance group, said it is very difficult to preserve traditional Hispanic arts in the United States.

“We don’t have many people who solely dedicate themselves to the arts,” she said. “There’s no one that promotes or organizes folk art.”

Magdalena Pedraza, a Mexican muralist who has lived in Chattanooga since 1997, said for her it is very important to continue practicing some sort of art, especially as a woman.

“When women come to the United States, they usually start looking for jobs cleaning houses or working long hours in factories, which are honorable jobs, but it doesn’t leave them any time left for the arts,” said Mrs. Pedraza, who originally came to Collegedale to give art classes.

“Part of this project was to see what’s happening with these traditions and how people are adopting them to a different environment,” she said, “but part of it was just to see what can we find that’s going on and what can we do to ensure that remains or that more exposure is brought to that.”

A Guatemalan dance group made up of members of the choir of Sts. Peter and Paul formed as a result of the survey and will perform at the Culture Fest on Sept. 27 at the North Shore’s Coolidge Park. Culture Fest is an annual celebration of the Chattanooga area’s cultural diversity through music, dance, food and fine arts.

Mrs. Blair said, however, that it has been much harder to find Hispanic artists after the Pilgrim’s Pride raid on April 16 that resulted in the arrest of 100 workers accused of being in the country illegally. Many Latinos, including the artists, are suspicious and afraid of talking to strangers, she said.

“There’s so much resistance, there’s so much fear, especially in the Guatemalan community,” she said.

Sister Sanchez agreed.

“I think this project is a very positive thing, but right now the community doesn’t want to bring any attention to themselves,” she said. “They are afraid.”

Mrs. Blair said she will conduct more interviews in the next couple of years while implementing programs to promote some of the art she has found could be in jeopardy.

“I felt the strongest thing was with the Guatemalan weavers,” she said. “We met so many women who wanted to do it, but didn’t have the time or loom to do it.”

She is partnering with the St. Andrews Center to have a room where the weavers can gather and continue to practice the art, she said.

Mrs. Blair said they also want to connect Hispanic artists with Chattanoogan artists.

“There’s a lot of ways both groups can work with each other and help each other out,” she said.

The transcribed interviews, photos and recordings will be at the Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga facility and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

Tech Talk