Sofía Maldonado, renowned Puerto Rican public artist, returned to the island nation of Puerto Rico to erect a massive art project to promote arts and sensibility.

The Puerto Rican-born, New York-developed artist recently unveiled "Cromática, Caguas a Color," a project in which she staged the transformation of unused buildings throughout Caguas, Puerto Rico. The revitalization and community engagement project opened Aug. 15th, and the door will open each consecutive Saturday until Sept. 12th.

"Revitalizing Caguas has been a powerful experience for me. When I came back to Puerto Rico, I knew that I wanted to contribute to the island, to take on a new relationship to my own art. This meant taking ownership of what I have already been doing for some time: educating and advocating through my art. Revitalizing Caguas has allowed me to step into that role," Maldonado told Latin Post.

Maldonado enlisted a number of local Puerto Rican artists to help her revitalize the city of Caguas with the interactive exhibit. Cromática is a pilot project that restores unused spaces and rebuilds the nation through use of abstraction, color and community. According to the artist, "Each intervention respects the building that hosts it. At the same time, this project is much more than an art piece to me. It's a way to contribute to Puerto Rico in whatever small way I can."

Maldonado's piece "Kalaña" is the project's centerpiece and the "main hub," guiding all other pieces. The artist took over a former tobacco warehouse and used it as an expansive canvas, covering the floors, walls, roof and ceiling with paint. She created a functional educational space for concerts, conversations, art workshops, documentary screenings and gallery exhibitions of others' artwork.

"This particular piece brings together many elements of transformation: the transformation of the unused space itself, my aesthetic development, and my own personal evolution," Maldonado said. "At a more general level, by transforming a space, not only do I get to transform myself, I also get to establish a direct, and one hopes, fruitful conversation with the audience. Change the way they view and experience a space, the way they view themselves. For instance, the space where Kalaña lives was set to become a storage unit, but by transforming it into an art piece, suddenly the possibilities for the unused space are much larger. Its potential is heightened."

As Maldonado has matured as an artist, she's become a conceptual and cultural advocate, and Kalaña is one of the first pieces to channel that new energy. It is a social experiment, and examines reactions to societal perception and contemporary public art. Also, the other Cromática pieces mirror Kalaña's message. The city's main plaza and the old post offices have been rejuvenated and converted into interactive art abstractions. Additionally, Cromática doesn't simply beautify Puerto Rico, but has also introduced a series of activities, documentaries and community engagements throughout Caguas and the island.

"One of the most beautiful aspects about this project has been the collaboration with other artists, and the transformation of a piece of art into a creative and educational hub. Even before opening, we were working to train university students. And since we've opened, we have hosted events, talks, and educational exchanges at Kalaña," Maldonado stated. "Those who have seen Kalaña and visited the project that sprung from it - Cromática Caguas - get a glimpse of what we can accomplish in Puerto Rico. The feedback from the community that visits us and sees our progress on social media as well has been invaluable.

"This project has brought a community together in many channels. That's at once humbling and inspiring. It shows, or rather confirms, the power that art, that culture, has to empower individuals and communities."

Kalaña is the first major art production piece that embodies artwork, economics, and social engagement, said the artist. It's allowed her to expand beyond the "square format of the mural and translate abstraction into a three-dimensional sensorial experience for the viewer."

Aside from her public art, Maldonado has taught at the university level, and she's co-created numerous projects with educational components. Next, she has projects lined up with the Arte Fist Foundation in Dorado, Puerto Rico and in Biennale Asuncion, Paraguay; along with other public art commissions for 2016.

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