Visit the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey on Saturday, February 11, from 12:30–4 PM for a multimedia Community Day event celebrating and exploring the vibrant Caribbean culture in New Jersey! In partnership with Los Herederos, a media arts non-profit organization dedicated to inheriting culture in the digital age, this event will feature live music, DJ sets, Caribbean food provided by local vendors, and a tour of the Art Center’s current exhibitions, which explore the visual art and folklife traditions of the Caribbean diaspora in New Jersey. This Community Day will highlight The Sonicycle, a mobile audio-visual unit fusing art, music, technology, functionality, and fun by engaging communities in sharing stories, music, and cultural traditions. During the event, Los Herederos will use The Sonicycle to gather and record interviews with artists, performers, musicians, attendees, and more! 

Los Herederos
A media-arts non-profit organization dedicated to inheriting culture in the digital age, Los Herederos  engages in research-based documentation for public consumption to produce projects, programs, and services that address the realities of local culture, evolving communities, and an increasingly diasporic immigrant experience. Los Herederos believes in the power and complexity of transmedia storytelling to educate and encourage a more culturally aware, equitable, and sustainable society. They adapt their artist-driven projects and archives to reflect the transformative nature of community and tradition and take an interdisciplinary approach to ethnography. 

Mickey Perez
Chicago born/Miami raised, Mickey Pérez is a first generation American of Cuban & Ecuadorian descent who’s been putting down the funkiest rhythms from Africa, South America, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the US since 2008. A Brooklyn resident since 2002, he has been holding down a weekly residency called Rhythm Section Sundays at Bembe for the past 5 years, in addition to playing regularly throughout the New York City. In 2018, Mickey became the newest member to join the legendary New York City Salsa record label Fania Records, a collective of DJs/Producers, and in 2019, he launched the popular Fuentes vs. Fania Soundclash featuring dance music strictly from the catalogs of those two immensely influential record labels. This dance party was featured during Miami Music Week in March of the same year. 

Roman Diaz Afro-Cuban Ensemble
Master percussionist, scholar, and composer Roman Diaz is regarded as a "living repository" of Afro-Cuban music. He has performed and recorded with the likes of Mercedita Valdes, Rakes Profundas, Los Marqueses de Atares, Jane Bunett, Juan Carlos Fonnell, Orlando "Pumilia" Rios, Paquito D'Rivera, Oriente Lope z, and Giovanni Hidalgo. As a member of the seminal rumba ensemble Yoruba Andabo, he aided in the creation of the sound that has defined rumba since the 1980s in Cuba and all around the world. Mr. Diaz left Cuba in 1999 and moved to Newark, NJ. Since then he has been featured alongside Orlando "Puntilla" Rios in the critically acclaimed documentary Calle 54, and in Dame La Mana, a film that documents the life and times of Union City's Esquina Habanera. His mastery of bata is present on countless recordings, along with his solid groove on congas. He is a sought-after musician for his artistic sensibility, charisma, and signature sound.