Centro at Edge of a Controversial New Era : Art: On its 20th anniversary, the Centro Cultural de la Raza is preparing to broaden its appeal to the Latino community. Critics say it will be at the expense of the center’s founding principles.

Almost 500 years after Christopher Columbus opened the gate to the Americas, “we Latinos are still alive, despite colonization and some atrocities,” said Ernesto Guerrero, director of the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.

Perhaps the resiliency of Latinos in the New World can also be used to explain the survival of the Centro, despite years of funding shortages. The Centro, like La Raza itself, is still alive, and it celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekend, including poetry recitals and a dance featuring traditional songs and entertainment.

But the weekend is also one for serious introspection.

Long known for the progressive political works of its artists, the Centro--situated inside a former water tank adorned with bright murals on Park Boulevard--is entering a new era that is generating controversy from within.

Recently, Centro leaders announced a new policy to reach out to all segments of the Latino community, instead of focusing mostly on Mexican-American culture and issues. This new approach will result in the loss of political awareness and diversion from the Centro’s founding principles, say longtime supporters unhappy with the new direction being taken by Centro leaders.

By opening up to the community, the word Chicano will still be synonymous with the Centro. But Chicanos will be just one of many Latino and Native American groups the Centro’s leaders hope to include in their plans.

“We’re trying to make the community aware of the Centro,” Guerrero said. “It offers the community, all of the Latino and Native American community, very tangible programs. We’re a multidisciplined organization.”

Guerrero, 35, an architect, and Patricio Chavez, 35, who has a background in photography and Chicano studies in New Mexico, were recently hired to lead the Centro into the next decade. Chavez is the Centro’s curator.

They are up against longtime members of the Centro who want to continue raising political awareness in the Chicano community through radical art.

Branching out to all segments of the community makes sense, as Latinos threaten to become a force to be reckoned with in U.S. politics, Guerrero said. Plus, broadening the Centro’s appeal can have a more practical effect.

“It’s no secret that every community arts program can use more money,” Guerrero said. “Our operating budget has remained around $200,000 to $220,000 over the years, and our membership about 100. Opening up the Centro can also help our fund raising. . . . I will work with anybody who wants to work with the Centro. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat is irrelevant.”

Much of the Centro’s funding comes the National Endowment for the Arts, including $48,855 in 1989. Additional funding comes from the California Arts Council and the city. According to Guerrero, less than half of 1% of the Centro’s budget comes from the city.

The Centro’s fund-raising plans include going after corporate grants, Guerrero said.

Ties to U.S. corporations were anathema to the founding members of the Centro, and at least one member charged that corporate officials were appointed to the Centro’s board in a blatant attempt to curry favors and money.

“The Centro will still be based on its founding principles of self-determination and staying connected to the movimiento locally and nationally,” Guerrero said.

But can the Centro, which has always been associated with the radical Chicano politics of the 1960s, be a place where right-wing Cubans, for example, can promote their art and political messages alongside Chicano artists whose work addresses controversial immigration issues?

Chavez, the curator, thinks it can be done.

“The evolution of Chicanos has to do with responding to the changing environment, but still maintaining the integrity of the movimiento, “ Chavez said. “It’s kind of straddling reality and cultures. You don’t sit on the fence, but you straddle it, with both feet planted on either side. You’re firmly planted in your roots, but you’re also firmly planted in your environment.”

One of Guerrero’s goals is to change the “misperception that the Centro is a radical institution.” He also wants to make it “truly multi-disciplined” and promote the performing arts equally with the visual arts, which has given the Centro its reputation.

“We want you to get a more accurate view of the Centro. The Centro has to be opened. We have to open up,” he said.

The Centro is putting together an exhibit in recognition of the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Americas by Columbus. The exhibit will examine how Latinos, who evolved from an accident of history, have been affected by Columbus’ “discovery.”

“We exist because of Spanish colonization,” Guerrero said. “That’s what we have to discuss. We can’t just say, ‘Thank you for discovering us’ and have a party. We have to show the atrocities and hardships imposed on millions of people in the name of Christianity and other facts that have been lost in history. . . . One of our biggest failures is that Latinos have been poor documenters of our culture.”

The Centro’s highly political art, especially from artists such as David Avalos and Victor Ochoa, has brought it recognition from throughout the Southwest and the European art community. Avalos and Ochoa formed the Border Art Workshop within the Centro to address border and immigration issues.

Workshop members were recently invited to show their work at the prestigious Venice Viennale in Italy.

Despite the national and international recognition the Centro has garnered, Guerrero acknowledged that it is still not well-known in the community. That and other issues will be debated in a series of seminars beginning today and continuing through Sunday at the Centro. Attendance is by invitation only.

“We do a lot of work year-round that the community is not aware of. How do we reach out to the community and who is the community needs to be defined,” Guerrero said.

But the changes planned by he and Chavez have not pleased all of the Centro’s members.

Ochoa, who is a founding member and former director, complained that the pair “may be losing sight” of the Centro’s mission. He said he is also upset with their plans to solicit corporate funding. But, he added, reluctantly, “growth does bring about changes.”

“We have to remind ourselves of all the things we’ve done at the Centro,” Ochoa said. “I’m having a lot of problems with people who say we’re only reaching part of the community. . . . We’ve always thought of ourselves as an alternative to artists who want to address important issues through their work. I’m afraid that by opening up, the Centro’s work will lose its political importance.

“They say, ‘We want to open up.’ But you’ll open up to a certain audience and turn away another audience that has been here longer, and who’s learned to expect a particular kind of art from us,” he said. “The main danger of opening up is that we’ll lose the respect we’ve earned from the community, and the Centro will lose is political awareness.”

As for the corporate influence, Ochoa said:

“These people were invited to sit on the board not because of the cultural or artistic awareness, but because they have some political clout and can help the Centro raise money. We used to call that selling out.”

Chavez and Guerrero say they recognize concerns expressed by Ochoa and other critics. But both men say the Centro can be expanded without compromising its proud political history.

“It’s a matter of articulating the differences by showing different types of artwork,” Guerrero said. “It’s a formidable task to bring people together with art, culture and politics.”