Monarca and the Communal Mural Wall

Monarca kids at work on the mural

Friday, November 9th, the kids of Casa Monarca came to Taller to see the exhibitions and work on Viveros's communal mural wall.   Viveros started the mural in white with a necklace made out of the symbols of the months taken from the Mayan calendar sprouting from the back of his stone Kulkan's head.

Detail of child at work

The kids enjoyed working on the mural and learning about Mayan and Aztec history.

The kids enjoyed painting on the wall

The exhibition ends on November 10th.

Group Shot

The finished wall.

Casa Monarca and Aquí Estamos

Ahdanah talking about the people in her photos

Casa Monarca brought their students to Taller Puertorriqueño on Friday, November 9th,  to see Leticia Roa Nixon's (Ahdanah), and César Viveros Herrera's exhibitions.

Ahdanah discussing her documentary El Sol Sale Para Todos

Ahdanah discusses with the children the stories behind her photographs and documentary.  She explains that how overcoming great difficulty, these people from Mexico had come to make Philadelphia their home.  She highlights to them their connection with the people in the photographs and them being here.

Ahdanah in white

Leticia Roa Nixon (Ahdanah): Aquí Estamos

September 28th to December 8th, 2012 

El Vestíbulo

Carnival at Penn's Landing, 2012

Digital Print, 12 " x 15" 

Ahdanah was born in Mexico City and has lived in Philadelphia since 1985. She has a B.S. in Communications from Universidad Iberoamericana. Since 1992, as a photojournalist for Hispanic newspapers, she has been documenting the diversity of Latino immigrants in this city. / Esta exhibición documenta las vidas de mejicanos en Filadelfia, sus historias personales y sus esperanzas.

We Are America, 2006
Digital Print, 12" x 15"

 Leticia is the publisher of the blog “Las Recientes Noticias” (LRNews). She is a certified court interpreter for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and is a volunteer at the Latino Partnership Initiative, JUNTOS, and Casa Monarca.

With Laura Deutch and Carlos Pascual Sánchez, she produced the video documentary, El Sol Sale Para Todos (The Sun Shines for All), in partnership with JUNTOS and thanks to a Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant (April 2009). She has also published Aquí Estamos/Here We Are, a bilingual book of South Philadelphia Mexican immigrants’ oral stories.

Ahdanah was co-editor of Mirrors and Windows/Espejos y Ventanas, Oral Stories of Mexicans of Kennett Square. She is finishing her book, Arándanos, Oral Stories of Philadelphia Puerto Rican Blueberry Pickers, to be self-published in 2012, and has published two biographical books for children, Blueberry Lady and The Mexican Lindbergh.


In 2009, with Dalia O’Gorman, she co-founded Casa Monarca, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserve and promote Mexican art, culture, and traditions through artistic and educational programs in South Philadelphia.