The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (The Clemente)

Written by Janelle Velez

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center is a beacon for all age groups that attracts them to take part in the rich artistic and social diversity of their neighborhood. Located on Suffolk Street in the Lower East Side, the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center is a Neo-Gothic building originally known as P.S. 160, one of the many public schools designed by the architect Charles B. J. Snyder. Known as “building that never sleeps” because it is open seven days a week, this cultural center celebrates Puerto Rican culture, showcases the work of talented artists, and provides functional spaces. Whether it is a hall to dance in or a studio to paint in, artists are enabled to create, display, perform, and thrive in this cultural center.

Over the course of more than 100 years, the physical establishment has gone through various phases. First it was a...

Written by Janelle Velez

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center is a beacon for all age groups that attracts them to take part in the rich artistic and social diversity of their neighborhood. Located on Suffolk Street in the Lower East Side, the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center is a Neo-Gothic building originally known as P.S. 160, one of the many public schools designed by the architect Charles B. J. Snyder. Known as “building that never sleeps” because it is open seven days a week, this cultural center celebrates Puerto Rican culture, showcases the work of talented artists, and provides functional spaces. Whether it is a hall to dance in or a studio to paint in, artists are enabled to create, display, perform, and thrive in this cultural center.

Over the course of more than 100 years, the physical establishment has gone through various phases. First it was a public school providing education to local youth. After sustaining a fire in the 1970’s, in 1981 the building became home to Solidaridad Humana, a foundation the assisted newly-arrived Puerto Ricans in learning English and getting jobs in New York.  Now this cultural center does various things such as provide studios for artists, giving spaces for organizations like LATEA and SEA to perform in the art of theatre. From the beginning of its foundation, this place has always served as a site of learning and development for people of all ages. The structure physically embodies the mission of Clemente Soto Vélez and the artistic influence he brought to the community. Soto Vélez influenced a wave of Puerto Ricans immigrants in New York to be able to showcase their artistic, literary, and performing arts talents.

Clemente Soto Vélez was born in 1905 in Lares, Puerto Rico. Throughout his life, Clemente was engaged with numerous careers and occupations. His many accomplishments include becoming known as a Puerto Rican nationalist, poet, artist, engineer, businessman, and journalist. After Soto Vélez lost his parents at the age of seven, he moved to San Juan where he lived with his sister. As he grew older, he attended Ramirez Commercial School, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering/business administration and showed early signs of his potential. Soto Vélez then went on to become an engineer and a businessman.

As a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, he understood the struggle of the middle class in Puerto Rico. The middle class was responsible for the work and production of goods in the country. They were abused by the infiltration and occupancy of the United States government in Puerto Rico causing Soto Vélez to become part of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Society. He refused to stand by and not speak about the issues. At one point of his life, Clemente worked with Juan Antonio and Pedro Albizu Campos, two important party members, organizing marches, protests, and fights against the government to bring justice and fairness to the people of Puerto Rico. Soto Vélez also worked as a journalist for El Tiempo, posting news about the discrimination and struggles the Puerto Rican middle class faced at this time. For using the paper’s brand without permission to publish the issues publicly, he was fired from the newspaper and finally invested all his time and energy in fighting for the causes of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.

As the Nationalist Party gained momentum, the activists took their protests to the streets, demonstrating in a peaceful way to force the government to acknowledge the frustrations of the people. One day in the town square, the massacre known as Rios Piedras occurred in which local police officers opened fire on supporters of the Nationalists. Four party members were brutally killed, and one police officer was wounded. Many people witnessed this horrific event that occurred in the town square. The U.S. Army Colonel, Elisha Francis Riggs, the police chief responsible for the massacre, was already disliked due to his decision to repress the sugar cane labor movement and pro-independence efforts.  

Sugar cane was the main cash crop in Puerto Rico since it was brought in 1515. By the twentieth century the sugar cane market struggled due to price competition, while people were forced to work under a sugar quota. Many of the middle class suffered because they were the workers that benefitted from the sugar cane production business. The Jones-Costigan Act allowed Puerto Ricans to ship the raw material to the United States but in return they received almost no payment. In retaliation, Elias Beauchamp assassinated Officer Riggs. When the police took Beauchamp into custody, he was sent to trial, convicted, and executed in front of townspeople by a firing squad. Before he died, Beauchamp’s last words were “Disparen paraque vean como muere un hombre”— “shoot me so you can see how a real man dies.” Beauchamp showed that despite the fact that he was going to die, he knew he was going to spark a fire in the Puerto Rican people, who protested in streets of San Juan and Rios Piedras and held processional marches for Beauchamp.

Despite the execution of their fellow party member, other Nationalists, including Soto Vélez, were tried and convicted of Officer Riggs’ murder. Soto Vélez was sentenced to seven years in prison, which he served in Alabama. In the 1940s, he was released on good behavior, but after violating his parole, was released on the condition he would not be able to return to Puerto Rico. Once Soto Vélez received the news that he could never go back to Puerto Rico, he realized he had to start a new life in New York City. These were difficult times for Puerto Rican migrants, between leaving their homes and coming to live in a new and very different place . Soto Vélez helped them transition into their new lives through art. He initially spent some time in the South Bronx, where he met people like Puerto Rican poet Ed “El Yunque” Vega and Dominican actor Mateo Gomez. He inspired and was a mentor to people like them to continue pursuing their artistic talents, while helping them develop their skills. Soto Vélez offered his knowledge and wisdom later on to the young talented artists of the Lower East Side. He did so much for the community that in his honor, the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center was established in his name.

Unfortunately, Soto Vélez died in 1993, months before the cultural center opened. The Clemente has come a long way since 1993, when it opened inside the former school P.S. 160. The grand, five-story building is divided into various rooms and spaces occupied by the numerous organizations hosted within its walls. It has been changing ever since to promote the arts for all age groups, showcase artists’ work, and represent the cultural values of Puerto Rico. Two theaters run by Spanish-speaking organizations, Teatro SEA and the Flamboyan Theatre, are on the first floor, along with the LES gallery. The Flamboyan Theatre is an essential part of the cultural center because it is one of the few bilingual puppetry theaters in North America. The second floor contains rehearsal spaces, two additional theaters, Los Kabayitos Theatre and LATEA theatre, as well as Abrazo Interno Art Gallery. The theaters are used for play productions, fundraising events, birthday parties, and film  events. The third to fifth floors are comprised of artists studios rented out at a subsidized price, on permanent and short-term contracts. The importance of The Clemente is not only in its being a beacon for culture, diversity, and artistic expression, but in its ability to house artists and provide affordable work space. The Clemente subsidizes artists’ rent in exchange for creative work and services provided to the local community, such as mural design and installation and organizing theater productions with the children from neighborhood schools. The Clemente is firm in its commitment to getting people involved and giving back to the community.

My first impression of the building was that it is a hidden architectural gem in the Lower East Side. As soon as I turned the corner from Delancey Street onto Suffolk Street, I saw the cultural center with its grand entrance. It’s Neo-Gothic Architecture stood out from all the modern buildings and development occurring from the area. Despite not being a new building, like the modern ones in the area that are made from glass and steel frame, this center was like a castle. It is difficult to believe that such a building remains on this block, especially since it takes up more than half of it. Due to renovations to the stone on the façade and the cornices that partially eroded overtime, the exterior was covered by scaffolding on for several years. 

When I entered the building, I saw that the majority of the public school details remained the same, from the staircase to the decorative railings and the pointed arched windows. The architectural beauty of the Center comes from the fact that it has not been significantly altered, and the historic fabric of the building is still visible. As I walked through the hallways and the corridors it was as if I was reliving the moments of being a student in an elementary school in the late 1800s. Despite my fascination with the building, the architecture and the stories within it, I thought it would be important to speak to someone who plays a part in keeping this building functioning. 

When I chose to nominate this place to Place Matters initially I was drawn to it because its namesake shared the same last name as me. In Puerto Rican culture, the last name Vélez is very common and in Spanish culture, your name means everything. Your name has power, history and a story behind it just like Clemente Soto Vélez did. Hi name sparked my interest in researching why such a large captivating building was named in his honor. I was intrigued by the architecture, the Neo-Gothic elements of the building, and the mission to educate youth, migrants, and immigrants. I was excited to discover more about the Puerto Ricans who made this possible. Through studying this building, I learned about my Puerto Rican heritage and why it is so important to have a place that represents everything a person leaves behind from their country. This cultural center ties me and many other migrants to our roots, and is a constant reminder that in a new place where we are the minority, we have culture and part of home with us in our new lives in America.

The Clemente has opened its doors to all races, nationalities, ethnicities, and identities, however an integral and important part of the Clemente’s mission is maintaining this institution for Puerto Ricans. Coming to the mainland was difficult and once they settled in New York, was their central meeting place. Overtime, due to the size of the building and cost to renovate it, the cultural center has opened its studios to many non-Puerto Rican artists and organizations. However, more recently, a large number of the Clemente’s studios are rented by artists from outside of the city’s Puerto Rican and Latin American communities.  According to one senior staff member,  this is a situation that does become frustrating for the people running the center, who are concerned that the Clemente is “gradually losing the true essence of its mission”.

Overall, this place matters to me because in an era of gentrification many parts of the city are no longer identifiable. There are too many stores like Starbucks and Whole Foods that are eliminating family-owned businesses and making many neighborhoods into cookie cutter places. The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center  makes a statement about the contribution of Spanish minorities, not just to the Lower East Side, but to all of New York City and its culture. The Clemente keeps specifically Puerto Rican beliefs strong and embedded in our hearts; this cultural gem in the Lower East Side is worth fighting for and preserving.

(December 2017)