FITS Caps- Héctor Collazo
During the final week of Creating from a distance, Héctor Collazo Hernández contributes a short capsule where he discusses the quarantine’s effect on his project: “78 pueblos, 1 bandera”.
Héctor is a Puerto Rican nursing school graduate1 who currently resides in Villalba.2 He has been developing and producing this flag painting project since September 20163, after his brother’s suicide. To cope, Héctor began to travel throughout Puerto Rico4 which motivated him to paint the Puerto Rican flag in each municipality. The Puerto Rican flag was developed at the end of the nineteenth century by inverting the colors of the Cuban flag: “white horizontal stripes and a blue triangle instead of red, with the same solitary white star in the center.”5 This public art initiative aims to inspire the community, generate tourism6, and glorify the island’s culture7. Héctor’s civic project also serves as an urban regenerator as it rescues abandoned city spaces and encourages community development. During these events he invites his audience to participate in painting each mural8 and artisans to sell their wares9 as well as generates a space where the municipality can stockpile donations for victims of natural disasters10. He would like those who contribute to the project to experience and appreciate what he discovered and grew to love of the island.11 During the 2017-2018 school year, Héctor shared his project with the TASIS Dorado high school student body in a presentation titled “Sembrando esperanza por medio del arte”.12
Each mural is site-specific meaning it is designed for the particular building or space.13 Hector will plot the flag out and calls for volunteers, who will help him paint it.14 He tries to complete each mural before sunset so he may document the event for publication on his social media accounts.15 Mural #57 in Utuado, close to the Hospital Metropolitano de la Montaña (Metropolitan Mountain Hospital), took two days to complete due to a limited number of volunteers.16 Hector created a symmetrical design, with a central vertical axis, which contains the municipality’s name within the lowest of the horizontal white stripes on the surfaces of an amphitheater. Flag #65 was painted in Santa Isabel on an enormous cement cylinder chosen by the owner of Carnaval Restaurant. The proprietor approached Héctor and shared the idea of creating a vertical flag with the appearance of a mosaic topped by a revolving illuminated star. In the extension of the project “Plantando Bandera”, a project aimed at Puerto Rican diasporic communities17, Hector had the horizontal flag conform to the rounded corner of “La Placita”, a restaurant in Miami owned by chef José Mendín and actor Julian Gil18. In La Guancha in Ponce, Héctor wrapped a vertical flag around the rectangular tower of the Complejo Recreativo y Cultural La Guancha.19 Héctor painted flag #32 in Cidra on the façade of an abandoned house which was subsequently modified by young artists. He was extremely pleased that he was able to regenerate the space and that others would contribute to his work.
Hector has temporarily suspended the flag painting project, because, as a nurse, he understands social distancing is vital to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Before the quarantine he initiated the process in Dorado by meeting with arte_FITS.Foundation (A. F. F.) and Sala de Exposiciones del Plata (S. E. P.). He plans to paint mural #67 in Dorado after he completes #66 in Hormigueros. He is excited to work with A. F. F. and S. E. P. because he understands their singular focus on art aligns with his motivations.
Text by Irma Arzola & Marinelly Bello
Bibliography
Activo PR. “Proyecto ‘78 pueblos y 1 bandera’ llega a Utuado.” Published March 27, 2019. Accessed May 10, 2020.
https://activopr.com/activate/2019/03/27/ proyecto-78-pueblos-1-bandera-llega-a-utuado.html.
AT&T Puerto Rico. “Héctor y su historia nos inspiran a seguir hacia adelante.” Accessed May 10, 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/attpuertorico/videos/ 707312943025866/.
La Perla del Sur. “La monoestrellada resplandece en La Guancha.” Published July 2, 2017. Accessed May 10, 2020.
https://www.periodicolaperla.com/la- monoestrellada-resplandece-la-guancha/.
Moreno, Sarah. “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla.” El Nuevo Herald. Published August 13, 2019. Accessed May 9, 2020. https://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/ article232806122.html.
Schmidt Nieto, Jorge R. “Breve historia de la bandera de Puerto Rico.” Portal electrónico de Jorge R. Schmidt Nieto. Accessed May 10, 2020.
http:// academic.uprm.edu/jschmidt/id148.htm.
Tasis Dorado. “‘Sembrando esperanza por medio del arte’ by urban artist Héctor PR.” Accessed May 10, 2020.
https://tasisdorado.smugmug.com/2017-2018/ Sembrando-esperanza-por-medio-del-arte-by-urban-artist/.
Tate. “Site-specific.” Accessed May 10, 2020.
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/ site-specific.
Torres, Verónica. “La monoestrellada resplandece en la Plaza del Mercado en Juana Diaz.” La Perla del Sur. Published September 16, 2017. Accessed May 9, 2020. https://www.periodicolaperla.com/la-monoestrellada-resplandece-en-la-plaza- del-mercado-en-juana-diaz/.
WAPA TV. “Julian Gil ayuda a construirle casa al artista de las banderas.” Accessed May 9, 2020.
https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/entretenimiento/julian-gil-ayuda-a- construirle-casa-al-artista-de-las-banderas-_20131122454107.html.
1 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020, https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
2 “Julian Gil ayuda a construirle casa al artista de las banderas,” WAPA TV, accessed May 9, 2020,
https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/entretenimiento/julian-gil-ayuda-a-construirle-casa-al- artista-de-las-banderas-_20131122454107.html.
3 “Proyecto ’78 pueblos y 1 bandera’ llega a Utuado,” Activo PR, published March 27, 2019, accessed May 10, 2020,
https://activopr.com/activate/2019/03/27/proyecto-78-pueblos-1- bandera-llega-a-utuado.html.
4 “Héctor y su historia nos inspiran a seguir hacia adelante,” AT&T Puerto Rico, accessed May 10, 2020,
https://www.facebook.com/attpuertorico/videos/707312943025866/.
5 “Breve historia de la bandera de Puerto Rico,” Portal electrónico de Jorge R. Schmidt Nieto, accessed May 10, 2020,
http://academic.uprm.edu/jschmidt/id148.htm.
6 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020, https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
7 “La monoestrellada resplandece en la Plaza del Mercado en Juana Diaz,” La Perla del Sur, published September 16, 2017, accessed May 9, 2020, https://www.periodicolaperla.com/la- monoestrellada-resplandece-en-la-plaza-del-mercado-en-juana-diaz/.
8 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020, https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
9 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020, https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
10 “La monoestrellada resplandece en la Plaza del Mercado en Juana Diaz,” La Perla del Sur, published September 16, 2017, accessed May 9, 2020, https://www.periodicolaperla.com/la- monoestrellada-resplandece-en-la-plaza-del-mercado-en-juana-diaz/.
11 “Héctor y su historia nos inspiran a seguir hacia adelante,” AT&T Puerto Rico, accessed May 10, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/attpuertorico/videos/707312943025866/.
12 “‘Sembrando esperanza por medio del arte’ by urban artist Héctor PR,” Tasis Dorado, accessed May 10, 2020, https://tasisdorado.smugmug.com/2017-2018/Sembrando- esperanza-por-medio-del-arte-by-urban-artist/.
13 “Site-specific,” Tate, accessed May 10, 2020, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/site- specific.
14 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020, https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
15 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020,
https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
16 “Proyecto ‘78 pueblos y 1 bandera’ llega a Utuado,” Activo PR, published March 27, 2019, accessed May 10, 2020,
https://activopr.com/activate/2019/03/27/proyecto-78-pueblos-1- bandera-llega-a-utuado.html.
17 “Creador del proyecto’78 pueblos y 1 bandera’ pintará la monoestrellada en Miami,” Metro, published December 10, 2018, accessed May 10, 2020,
https://www.metro.pr/pr/ entretenimiento/2018/12/10/creador-del-proyecto-78-pueblos-y-1-bandera-pintara-la- monoestrellada-en-miami.html.
18 “Las banderas lo salvaron de una tragedia familiar y él levantó la moral de toda una isla,” El Nuevo Herald, published August 13, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020,
https:// www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/estados-unidos/article232806122.html.
19 “La monoestrellada resplandece en La Guancha,” La Perla del Sur, published July 2, 2017, accessed May 10, 2020,
https://www.periodicolaperla.com/la-monoestrellada-resplandece-la- guancha/.