Lydia is the founder of the Puerto Rican Institute of Arts and Advocacy, Inc., (PRIAA), and founder of Yoruba 2, an award-winning and nationally recognized traditional Puerto Rican music group. The group is known for playing genres of Puerto Rican folk music such as “bomba”, “plena” and other Caribbean rhythms. She serves as executive artistic of the Cultural Heritage Center; the only center where music of African descent and Puerto Rico merges into a strong practice in Puerto Rico. The practice of Wood Carving of Saints of Puerto Rico, Mask Making and Vejigantes Masks making, aluminum embossing and Visual arts Flowing! We help carry out and
promote projects and ideas promoting leaders in the arts.
Lydia has spent the last thirty-three (33) years as a performer and cultural educator/activist in the United States, Puerto Rico, Cuba and has been recognized as a presenter, artist producer, wood carving artisan, paper maché mask making, and as a great asset in the RI community. Her work has been passed on to new generations and is in high demand by State, Regional and National Arts Organization.
The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) of Puerto Rico specifically asked Ms. Pérez to represent the beauty of the culture of the Island of PUERTO RICO at the 2019 Conference of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASSA), as example of Puerto Rican folklore. Mrs. Perez, also was invited to the National Centers for Technology Transfer in Hispanic and Latino Mental Health, sponsored by the “Central University of Puerto Rico for the Caribbean”- 2023, as an example of our BORICUA traditions. Both conferences were held in Rhode Island.
On October 30, 2021, Lydia Pérez brought the “Cultural Heritage Center” (CHC) to the city of Pawtucket, in which the Afro-descendant rhythms and exchange happen. The New England Foundation (NEFA) for the Arts joined the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to announce 112 organizations, including 13 organizations in New England, have been recommended for awards under a new pilot program called ArtsHERE. The R.I. State Council on the Arts (RISCA) reported that only grantees from Rhode Island is Pawtucket’s Puerto Rican Institute for Arts and Advocacy (PRIAA). The arts and advocacy organization were chosen from an applicant pool of more than 4,000 nationwide. On October 22, 2024, PRIAA will celebrate its thirty-three (33) years of excellent work and three years of amazing collaborative project with Local, regional, National and Puerto Rican artists.
