CreArte Latino Cultural Center has been selected to receive a $3,600 grant from the Justine S. Sprenger and Rita H. Bullock Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation. The grant will support a new Latin music workshop for Latino youth between 9 and 16 years old—with an emphasis on students who come from low-income families. The six-week pilot program will be taught in Spanish by local professional musicians. According to Carol Hartz, the executive director of CreArte Latino, the workshop will feature an exploration of traditional folk music from Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Instructors will offer basic training in an array of instruments, including percussion (bongo, conga, güira, maracas, marimba and timbal), strings (guitar, banjo, tiples, cuatro) and keyboard. “Each participant will learn how to play the basics of one or several instruments of their choice,” says Hartz. She explains that the objective of the program is to offer Latino youth opportunities to learn to play, interpret and explore their own creativity through the musical form. Elvira Sanchez Blake, the director of education for CreArte Latino, says that the Manatee Community Foundation grant will greatly help expand CreArte’s educational programming and address a cultural issue that especially affects young people in the surrounding Latino/Hispanic community. “There can be a lack of knowledge about their roots. We want to bolster their pride and give them a direct experience of their rich heritage. We are deeply grateful to the Manatee Community Foundation to support us in this important mission.” CreArte Latino Cultural Center’s schedule for 2023 includes the ongoing “Amigos Book Club” for adult Spanish speakers. In addition, there is an adult class in Spanish for English speakers called “Conversemos” and an adult class in English for Spanish speakers called “Let’s Talk in English.” Book clubs and language classes are all via the Zoom platform. For more information about CreArte Latino Cultural Center, visit www.creartelatino.org or CreArte Latino on Facebook.