Parrish Art Museum Hosts Landmark Evening Uniting the Latino Community in the Hamptons

The event celebrated art and the profound influence of Hispanic culture in the arts in anticipation of Hispanic Heritage Month

• The Parrish Art Museum hosted a historic event celebrating Hispanic culture and its profound influence on the arts, featuring Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder and CEO of the We Are All Human Foundation, Mitchell Kaneff, Chairman & CEO at Arkay, Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, Executive Director of the Parrish Museum, and Bret Stephens, New York Times Opinion Columnist.
• An exhibition showcased Annette Nancarrow’s work, highlighting her unique role in blending American and Mexican art traditions.
• Claudia Romo Edelman highlighted Latino contributions, noting that by 2060, one in four Americans will be Latino, with art playing a key role in unifying communities.
• Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut stressed the importance of serving the large local Latino and Hispano community, which makes up nearly 25% of the population.

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WATER MILL, NY | SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 — The Parrish Art Museum, in collaboration with the We Are All Human Foundation, hosted a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on August 31st, 2024. The event honored the influence of Hispanic culture on the arts and showcased artworks by Annette Nancarrow, who moved to Mexico City to be part of the art scene of the 1940s together with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The works on view are the private collections of Arkay Packaging CEO Mitchell Kaneff and New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, Nancarrow’s direct family.

The evening included a compelling panel discussion featuring prominent thought leaders, including Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder and CEO of the We Are All Human Foundation, Mitchell Kaneff, Chairman & CEO at Arkay, Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, Executive Director of the Parrish Museum, and Bret Stephens, New York Times Opinion Columnist. The panel explored the cultural contributions of the Latinx community and celebrated the artistic crosspollination between cultures particularly in the 1940s and 1950s that have deeply shaped American cultural landscape.

Guests were greeted by an exhibition in the Museum’s lobby featuring select works created by  Annette Nancarrow, an American artist who became deeply intertwined with the Mexican art scene after moving to Mexico in 1936. She collaborated with renowned artists such as Orozco, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo. Her legacy, showcased through charcoal sketches, paintings, and sculptures, reflects the vibrant intersection of American and Mexican artistic traditions. The exhibition will be on view until October 1st, 2024.

“It was an honor to launch Hispanic Heritage Month at the Parrish with this event and pop-up art exhibition highlighting the crosspollination between our cultures. The event brought together key Latino opinion leaders from diverse disciplines including creative industries giving us all the opportunity to celebrate and build community for positive impact. I am delighted that the Parrish is becoming the site for inclusivity where everyone feels seen and welcome,” said Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, Executive Director, Parrish Art Museum.

“Between the 1930s and 1950s, there was no better place in the world to make art than Mexico City. You can’t understand American art from the mid-twentieth century without knowing Mexican culture and Mexican artists,” said Bret Stephens during the event. “My grandmother Annette, who traveled to Mexico in 1935 and stayed for the rest of her life as a productive and independent artist, was a cultural boundary-breaker in an age of fearfulness and isolationism.”

Among the exhibition highlights were “Mexico Sketches,” a series of charcoal works on paper by Annette Nancarrow, and portraits of her created by Sandor Klein and Frederico Cantu Garza in the 1930s.

“Latinos have been contributing to this country for centuries,” said Claudia Romo Edelman, emphasizing the significance of the event. “Looking toward the future, by 2060, one in every four people in the U.S. will be Latino. The We Are All Human Foundation is dedicated to elevating Latinos in the U.S., improving perceptions of our community, and expanding access. Art is a powerful unifier, and it plays a crucial role in shaping perceptions. Annette Nancarrow is a prime example of someone who elevated and was deeply inspired by Mexican culture—a remarkable outlier whom history and, unfortunately, society have often overlooked.”

The event’s success was made possible through the generous sponsorship of the trustees of the Parrish Art Museum, Angélica Fuentes, No Gender, Martín Cabrera, Cabrera Capital, Asha Jadeja, Motwani Jadeja Global Foundation, and Bertha González, Casa Dragones. Claudia and Richard Edelman, Justine and John Leguizamo, Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, Bret Stephens, Mitchell Kaneff, Sandra Campos, Laura Bardier, Angelica Fuentes, and José Noé Suro co-chaired the event.

About We Are All Human Foundation
The We Are All Human Foundation (WAAH) is a registered (501c3) non-profit. The WAAH’s mission is to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion, and it has mobilized more than 300 companies to create more inclusive environments and assist the underserved. The Hispanic Star is a brand that acts as a platform to unite businesses, non-profits, community leaders, and celebrities to accelerate the advancement of Hispanics in the US and to improve perception by celebrating the incredible contributions of Latinos to the country’s progress.

About Annette Nancarrow
Annette Nancarrow (1907–1992) was an American artist who moved to Mexico in 1935. She worked with notable artists such as Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera. Her work spans sketches, paintings, and sculptures, reflecting her vibrant life and connections within the Mexican art scene. The pop-up exhibition at the Parrish will feature select works created by or about Annette Nancarrow.

About the Parrish Art Museum
The Parrish Art Museum is a place to discover and connect with artists and art with a focus on the rich creative legacy of the East End and its global impact on the art world. Inspired by the natural setting and historical artistic community of Long Island’s East End, the Parrish Art Museum celebrates its legacy through a distinctive contemporary lens and socially conscious global context. The Parrish illuminates the creative process and how art, architecture, and design transform our experiences and our communities, and how we relate to the world. Access to relevant cultural engagement, artistic inspiration, a natural environment, and architectural ingenuity characterizes the Museum experience as a unique destination for the region, the nation, and the world.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Melanie Tolan | tolanm@parrishart.org
Marisa Garcia de Celis | marisa@weareallhuman.org

Top Image: Bret Stephens, Claudia Romo Edelman, Mitchell Kaneff, Mónica Ramírez-Montagut at the Parrish Art Museum. Photo: Sabrina Steck/BFA.com.