Somos de Aquí:
The Enduring Wildlife of Puerto Rico
Somos de Aquí pays tribute to four of Puerto Rico’s iconic species of wildlife that survived in the face of Hurricane Maria’s 2017 devastation. The story is told through the many Puerto Rican scientists who dedicate their lives to protect them.
The multi-media project consists of photographs and three short films to tell the story of the Puerto Rican parrot, coquí frog, sea turtle, and the island’s only native mammal – the bat. The backdrop is El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest System, and Mona Island, an ecological reserve known as the Galapagos of the Caribbean.
The Films
Three short-videos created by Lina Collado García, as part of the Somos de Aquí project. They are focused on four species, two ecosystems and the several biologists and scientists who have dedicated their lives to protect these species and places.
Videos are in Spanish with English subtitles.
The Exhibit
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson WY
May 3rd - August 18, 2019
This exhibit is an extension of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s greater initiative, supported by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund and the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, to connect to Jackson’s growing Latiné population that includes a recent influx of 200 Puerto Ricans to Teton County. The exhibit is currently searching for a home in Puerto Rico.
It included a collection of photographs, three short films, a soundscape of the coquí frog singing and four paper mache trees commonly seen in Puerto Rico, two being endemic. The trees were a Palma de Sierra, Palo Colorado, and the Tabonuco tree which is native to Puerto Rico.
It was the first, fully bilingual exhibit in the state of Wyoming.
Community Involvment
As Wyoming’s first fully bilingual art exhibit in English and Spanish, the Latiné population of Jackson, Wyoming had the opportunity to visit the free exhibit many times, and were able to read it in their first language.
As part of the project, Dr. Rafael Joglar, a Puerto Rican well-known biologist came to Jackson and led the museum’s first-ever presentations in Spanish to middle school students and staff from the new dual language school. See the video below for an excerpt of the presentation.