National Hispanic Heritage Month observed in Vegas

By Timothy Pratt

Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 | 4:02 a.m.

For the third year in a row, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District will be hosting a series of events during September and part of October in observation of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Denise Gerdes, who is also a librarian in Laughlin, organized the programming, with the help of a committee. She said that National Hispanic Heritage Month events are intended to observe the contributions of Hispanics to the community and to attract Hispanics to libraries.

The events begin on Sept. 1 with an exhibition titled "Chicano Artists" at the West Charleston Library. Chicano refers to Mexican-Americans, and the exhibition, which continues to Oct. 14, includes sculptures and paintings that treat social issues of importance to this group.

From Sept. 22 to Oct. 12, "Vatos: A Photographic Tribute," an exhibition by Pulitzer-prizewinning photographer Jose Galvez, will be at the Sahara West Library Grotto and the Clark County Library Exhibition Hall. Vatos is an informal term used in Mexican culture to mean "guys"; Galvez' exhibition centers on Hispanic men at work.

Galvez was a photographer with the Los Angeles Times from 1980 to 1992 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. He is also currently participating in a group exhibition called "Americanos" that is touring museums nationwide.

The programming this year will also include fine arts for the first time. Gerdes said that a crafts event was originally planned, but Hispanic community members suggested that the intellectual profile of the event could be raised by focusing on painting and sculpture.

The fine arts event will be Sept. 22 at the Las Vegas Library.

Another event called, appropriately enough, "Fiesta," will include music and dance from Chile and Mexico, on Sept. 30, at the Clark County Library.

Children will also be welcomed to bilingual puppet performances and clay pot painting events, and teens, to mural painting events, at different libraries.

Finally, there will be a parade on Oct. 13 at a location to be announced, to celebrate what is known as Dia de la Raza.

"Some people might think that a librarian should be at his or her desk and not out in the community, but I feel that if we can bring more Hispanics and people in general to visit us, to read books and expand their horizons, then the event is a success," Gerdes said.

For more information, call 383-3493.