Founded in 1992, the Mexican Cultural Center (MCC) has two primary goals: to increase cultural diplomacy through the United States and Mexico and to uplift and elevate Mexican culture in Denver (and beyond). “We’re a small but mighty team,” says MCC Executive Director Rachel Garcia. Currently a team…
Located in a brightly painted building on Larimer Street in the heart of the River North Art District (RiNo), Raquelitas Tortillas is not your average tortilla manufacturer and retail tortilla store. It has deep roots in Denver and the historically Latino section of Larimer Street, dating back to…
Despite each country’s unique culture and differences, a commonly shared cornerstone of Hispanic and Latino cultures is the importance of family — and food. Everybody contributes and everybody eats. When Aurora resident Chef Lindita (and the owner of Lindita’s Salsa & Spice Company), was a child…
In 1972, Chicanos (Americans of Mexican ancestry) were required to take a remedial reading class in order to attend the University of Colorado Denver. Finding this requirement demeaning, university faculty member Rowena Rivera proposed something else entirely — she wanted to create an…
When the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC) was founded in 1978, its purpose was simple: to create a place where Latino/a/x and Hispanic artists could display their art freely. “We weren’t allowed in galleries, or they didn’t want our type of art,” said CHAC’s Executive Director Brenda…
Life isn’t always easy, but for Venezuelan native Yurima Crowley it sure has been interesting. In 2018, she was working an assortment of jobs to make ends meet — then everything changed when she took a 20-month leadership course offered to immigrants at a non-profit in Aurora. The ultimate purpose…
For more than a decade, Denver Botanic Gardens has put on an annual Día de los Muertos festival — an event so popular that the attendance had reached up to 12,000 visitors over the past few years. In 2023, however, the gardens announced that the sun has set over the iconic event and it would be…
