La CASA officially opens the weekend of May 15.

After seven years of uncertainty, fundraising, permit headaches and construction chaos, community development corporation Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) has a new home. La CASA: The Center for Arts, Self-determination and Activism will open in May.

The $33 million cultural institution will be the largest Latino arts center in New England and the new centerpiece of the South End’s Villa Victoria community.

IBA is a nonprofit that was born more than 50 years ago to safeguard the largely Puerto Rican community of the neighborhood now known as Villa Victoria from displacement by area redevelopment. Since then, the organization supports the community through a combined strategy of affordable housing development, community organizing, education and arts and culture programming.

The group’s original arts center, which housed a gallery as well as a preschool education program, was condemned in 2019, forcing IBA to speed up their long-term timeline for new facilities.

The new, much larger space will include a brand-new gallery featuring an opening exhibition by Puerto Rican painter Antonio Martorell and a sizable indoor mural by Alvin “Acóma” Colón, as well as space for concerts, performances and other programs. The design of the building is contemporary but rooted in the neighborhood’s history. Some of the stained glass from the original building will be included in the lower-level lobby.

“We integrate the arts in every aspect of IBA’s work,” said IBA CEO Dr. Vanessa Calderón-Rosado. “And this building will amplify that possibility and opportunity, because all of our programs, except for the early education, will be under one hub and under one roof at La CASA.”

In addition to the arts spaces, IBA’s operations team, administrative team and property management group will be under the same roof. That will create convenience for neighborhood residents who may need to visit the economic empowerment office at the same time as the resident services office, but it will also allow for more collaboration between departments.

IBA has continued as much programming as possible during the last seven years — its summertime outdoor salsa concerts are a favorite — but having a reliable indoor space will allow for a much larger calendar of events.

“This beautiful building is going to be the hub for IBA, for the arts in Boston. It’s going to be the center of what we do and also the living room for our community,” says IBA Chief Operating Officer Mayra I.

Negrón-Roche.

La CASA officially opens the weekend of May 15 with a packed schedule of public programs including an inaugural concert, open houses and community activations. The building will be a powerful statement for the local community but also for the larger Latino population in New England during a tumultuous political time.

“Our communities are not only under attack, but there’s an effort to erase our culture, to erase our communities, to diminish them,” said Calderón-Rosado. “This space, through the arts and through all the work that we do, La CASA is like planting the flag and saying that you cannot erase us, that you cannot displace us, that you cannot discount us, that we are here to stay.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more about La CASA at ibaboston.org/campaign-page