Located at the foot of the self-built neighborhood or barrio La Palomera, the Anexo Casa de Todos ACT is a collective space for art and culture that has gradually emerged alongside the restoration of an abandoned municipal building. Neighbors pointed Enlace Foundation, directed by WPHL associate professor Elisa Silva, to the ruinous site. In 2021, it was entrusted to the foundation through an agreement with the Mayor´s Office, and a process began progressively recovering the space and transforming it into a thriving cultural center. It began by opening doors that had been shut with fixed cinder blocks, then cleaning the debris and waste that had accumulated over the years, and hosting a party.
Four years later, the Anexo Casa de Todos receives nearly 1000 people, both local and from the entire city, every month. Around a central patio --full of plants, trees and a vegetable garden-- culinary courses, dance, music, percussion, theater, cinema, storytelling, concerts, karate, modeling, afterschool help with homework, mathematics courses, carpentry, gardening, composting, embroidering, printmaking, book binding and over 40 weekly events are held every week. These are offered by 14 groups that include Gastroalquimia, Tovar Studio Dance Academy, Getsemani Theater, Cofradía Jabillo es Baruta, Liomart Dance Academy, Magawa Mode's Modeling Academy and individual instructors. A library, in alliance with the Sopa de Letras Bookstore, has more than 2,000 copies on loan to the public. A café serves expresso and pastries to visitors. A chocolate making laboratory offers courses in alliance with Cacao de Origen. Together these entities, not only fill the building with activities, they also support the Anexo´s financial livelihood. The ACT has transformed the way the community interacts with one another and with people from the rest of the city who have also made it their home.
For more information visit www.lapalomera.org
