CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will present its annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration, a free Rock the Block Community Day, on Saturday, Sept. 20, from noon-4 p.m.
The program brings together performers like Ropa Vieja and community partners such as the Julia de Burgos Cultural Art Center to celebrate the richness and diversity of Latin and Hispanic traditions.
Stories by Peter Chakerian
20,000 Leagues Under the Industry film festival resurfaces at Treelawn Social Club
Public transit meets public art in new Maltz Museum gallery initiative
Jeffrey Siegel’s ‘Keyboard Conversations’ at 40: Bringing classical music, meaning to Cleveland audiences
3 Reasons to see Sunday (1994) at Mahall’s on Wednesday, Sept. 24
The afternoon will be packed with music, dance and art that showcase how deeply these cultural currents run through the story of rock and roll itself.
Live performances will come from Luka y su Ropa Vieja, Club Dominicano De Cleveland, Julia de Burgos & Latina Image Leadership Program, and Comite Mexicano de Cleveland.
Salsa performances will feature winners of the Salsa Across Boarders competition.
The Rock Hall’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration has quickly become one of the museum’s signature community events, but it began with a simple question: How could the museum better connect with Cleveland’s diverse neighborhoods?
“Museums should be community resources,” said Kathryn Clusman, the Rock Hall’s director of education and community engagement.
“We noticed we weren’t really reaching our Hispanic and Latino audiences here in Cleveland, and that’s such a huge part of the culture here. They weren’t really feeling connected with us or seeing this as a place for them.”
After initial conversations with local organizations, Clusman and her team emphasized collaboration over presentation.
“It wasn’t just us saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this thing, you should come,’” she explained. “We wanted to know what sort of things should this event entail?”
That commitment to authenticity helped the event gain traction when it launched in 2022.
Each year since, the Rock Hall has partnered with cultural groups like the Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center to spotlight local artists, musicians and performers.
“Once those organizations realized it was a genuine interest to connect and work with them — and not just slap ‘Hispanic Heritage’ on it — they were excited,” Clusman told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Keeping the programming fresh means staying plugged in to what those groups are doing.
“Part of it is us thinking about cool ideas, and part of it is asking, ‘What artists are you excited to see? Who are you working with right now?’”
For Clusman, who moved to Cleveland nearly 20 years ago for college and decided to stay, the event is about “so much more than a day on the plaza.”
The Rock Hall’s annual Rock the Block Community Days are an ongoing series of free, community-focused events held on the museum’s plaza and have been a regular part of its annual programming.
In 2021, the Rock Hall tapped into Rock Hall EDU, its education division, to launch virtual Hispanic Heritage Month resources.
These included curated playlists, lesson plans and online materials exploring the influence of Latin artists on rock, spotlighting figures like Carlos Santana and Joan Baez.
“The Rock Hall is a place that can bring these organizations together and shine the spotlight on them,” Clusman said. “We don’t have to reinvent anything. These audiences are already here, doing incredible things.”
The celebration is free and open to the public, with an added bonus for city residents: Admission to the Rock Hall is always free for Cleveland residents through the CLE VIP program.
“So not only can you come for the celebration, you can also experience the museum itself,” Clusman said.