Nurturing Our Neighborhoods: Nepantla’s new community tradition

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Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in Delridge, Seattle, saw record-breaking attendance at its third annual Lowrider Block Party for local Latinx, Chicano/Chicana, and Hispanic communities, hosted last summer using funding from Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA). 

Co-owners and co-directors — and co-life partners — Jake Prendez and Judy Avitia-Gonzalez opened the doors to Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in 2019. Jake moved to Seattle in 2015 after working in the Chicano art scene in Southern California for many years. Judy’s family moved to the White Center area in the 1990s, and she has remained a passionate and dedicated local since. The pair dreamt of bringing Latinx art to Seattle years ago after noticing underrepresentation of the culture in the city’s art scene.

“Our mission is to make art an accessible experience, while giving back to our communities,” Judy said. “When we were looking for an art space, I knew that unincorporated King County and Delridge are always overlooked, so, of course, we knew we had to come here.”

The center is made up of three main sections: a gallery wall highlighting the work of artists from marginalized communities, a free programming space for artists to host classes for the community, and a gift shop featuring unique cultural goods made by Latinx women, LGBTQIA+ artisans, and small businesses. Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery invests in quality art supplies and paying teaching artists equitable wages to best support the Seattle Latinx art community. 

“Our goal is to amplify the voices of artists who are not always heard in traditional arts spaces,” Jake said. 

When Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery applied for our arts and culture grants for local initiatives, DNDA took notice of Judy and Jake’s desire to invest the grant money directly into the community. DNDA happily awarded Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery $10,000 to host its third annual Lowrider Block Party for the White Center and Delridge communities — an event made free for attendees by the grant money. 

Judy and Jake hosted the first ever Nepantla Lowrider Block Party in 2021 at a time when the local Latinx community craved outdoor connection and cultural celebration. In 2022, the pair found creative ways to fund the party. In 2023, they were inspired to host the festival again after calls from the community.

“The first year, people came up to us saying, ‘You have to host this again!’” Judy said. “Now, Nepantla’s Lowrider Block Party is a tradition for this community.”

DNDA was able to support the 2023 block party through funding from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS). ARTS allocated more than $1 million to 14 organizations across Seattle to support arts and culture projects and uplift local organizations impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. ARTS selected DNDA as one of the organizations to disperse grants to projects, specifically those serving Delridge and West Seattle. Judy and Jake said they were easily able to plan the block party because grant funds were made accessible immediately upon award, rather than through a reimbursement process. 

More than one thousand community members attended the 2023 Nepantla Lowrider Block Party. The block party is not only considered an annual community tradition, but it also benefits small businesses on and around 17th Avenue. 

The experience included a gallery showing, performances, Aztec dancers, and live music, as well as more than 20 vendors representing various cultures and offering clothes, food, and other cultural art items. Festivities also included lowrider-themed art by Seattle Paint Party, which also received a grant from DNDA. And, of course, the event had an abundance of lowrider cars —  a representation of Latinx history and culture.

Judy and Jake witnessed the community — particularly young kids — see themselves in the Latinx art surrounding them, many for the first time. 

“We love to hear people say, ‘Wow, that art looks like me!’ We want to give people art that resonates with them, where they see themselves in the paintings,” Jake said. 

Thank you to Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery and ARTS for allowing DNDA to help bring this event to life. We cannot wait for the next block party! Subscribe to DNDA’s newsletters for more “Nurturing Our Neighborhoods” stories at dnda.org/get-involved.

– Written by DNDA’s Communications Team