Enlarge Libella Baldriche, 8, plays at the toy exhibition at Con A De Arte festival at main library.

Posted: June 6th, 2011 Tonya Jameson

In the past decade, I’ve covered a bajilion cultural festivals. I typically approach them with the idea that they give Americans whose parents and grandparents were born in the United States a chance to learn about the multitude of ethnicities that live here.

Con A de Arte (A is For Art) changed my thinking. The two-day event included a gallery exhibition at Gil Gallery/Coffey and Thompson Gallery on Friday, and a cultural celebration at the main library on Saturday.

The art exhibit featured works by 10 artists from various Latin American countries. Other artists works were also displayed at the main library. Saturday’s events at the library included a group Zumba class, a chance to play with toys from Mexico and other countries, storytelling, poetry and more.

My shift in thinking about cultural festivals changed as I watched Libelula Baldriche, 8, play with the games and other toys in the Interactive Traditional Toy Exhibition as part of the festival at the main library. Libelula’s mother Maydel watched her daughter play with the toys – toys like the ones she grew up with in Cuba.

“This is amazing,” Baldriche said. “We want our kids to know where their parents came from, what they played with, the food and culture.”

Other parents felt the same about the toy exhibition and the festival in general. They reveled in the chance to expose their children, many of whom were born in America, to their parents' cultural heritage. They also enjoyed teaching their children, and learning for themselves that although they were born in different countries, they had more commonalities than differences.

Irania Patterson, bilingual specialist at the public library, said identifying cultural similarities between Latinos from different countries is one of the best parts about the festival because it happens organically. Yes, there are exhibits and activities, but the real learning happens when the music stops.

“You learn about other cultures by meeting people from other cultures,” she said.

And I learned that I have so much learning to do.

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