Palmetto Luna Arts donates "The Mariachi" painting
by Alejando Garcia to Riverbanks Botanical Garden.

Palmetto Luna Arts -fostering Latino arts & culture, has donated an art piece titled "The Mariachi" by local renowned Latino artist Alejandro Garcia to Riverbanks Botanical Garden. This painting will be a permanent fixture at El Jardin -A Latino Garden section of the Discovery Garden within Riverbanks.

El Jardín [pronounced El Har-deen] means “the garden" in Spanish. This space was designed to offer a taste of the elements in a typical Latino home garden. The garden aims to increase awareness of the gardening differences throughout the Americas. It was developed as an educational tool to highlight the beauty and inspiration of Latino culture in South Carolina. The garden also serves as a venue to showcase artistic creations by local Latino artists.

El Jardin -A Latino Garden was inaugurated two years ago and it is the consequence of collaborative efforts by several individuals, organizations and entities. "Once again -as an all-volunteer organization with a very limited budget, we need to rely on donations and the support from the community. This painted was donated by Alejandro Garcia, one of our Board Members and who is not only one of the best known Latino artists in the state but in the southeast region" said Ivan Segura, President of Palmetto Luna Arts. "We will continue to bridge the gap between our cultures by promoting artistic creation and then displaying these creations in places where a large number of individuals can experience them"

EL Mariachi painting represented a donation of over two thousand dollars to El Jardin and it was designed as a "photo-op" creation: the face of the mariachi has been cut out to allow for visitors to the garden to place their face in this cut out area and take their picture as a Mariachi in the Latino garden. "Riverbanks garden is visited by over 300,000 people a year" Said Segura "We placed The Mariachi just this weekend and we have already seen dozens of people taking their pictures. In one year, there will be thousands of mariachi pictures all across South Carolina!"

Palmetto Luna Arts' mission is to foster an understanding of the Hispanic/Latino culture by promoting artistic creation and providing opportunities for cultural expression for the community in South Carolina.