José “Pepe” Flores

Pepe Flores was born in 1951 in Puerta de Tierra, near Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to the countryside. Pepe learned to read at an early age and became an avid and voracious reader, opening his mind to worlds beyond his humble roots.

At age 19, Pepe migrated from Puerto Rico and arrived in the Lower East Side of New York City, where he quickly became a community activist focused primarily, but not exclusively, in the areas of early childhood education, affordable housing, community gardens and public spaces. In NY, Pepe expanded his interest in music to Cuban, Jazz, Brazilian, African, etc..., significantly expanding his collection and knowledge. In the spirit of his mentors, René López, Andy González, Harry Sepúlveda and many others, as his music personal knowledge, music collection and library grew, Pepe consistently made these invaluable resources available to selected musicians and researchers sharing his love for music and respect for musicians.

Jíbaro music was the first type of music Pepe heard as an immediate part of his everyday life. Later, through the radio, he heard the music of cuartetos like Mayarí and Marcano, the music of Cortijo and his Combo with Ismael Rivera, etc. These forms of music became the foundation of Pepe’s musical journey, which led him to collect records and books from the early age of 12 years old. Besides listening to various and diverse forms of Puerto Rican and Caribbean music, he read everything related to music and history he could get his hands on, from liner notes to magazine and newspaper articles, books and academic papers, etc, etc. As a teenager, Pepe began attending live performances and dances where groups like El Gran Combo, Tommy Olivencia y su Orquesta, La Sonora Ponceña and others played salsa music and dancing became an integral part of his life, character and persona.

Lyn Pentecost, PhD

She is the founder of two highly successful non-profit organizations and four photography galleries. Recently retired as Founder and Director Emeritus of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, she is returning to her roots as a photographer and gallery curator.

A community leader dedicated to improving the lives of low-income youth and their families, Lyn has orchestrated many successes over 50 years, predominantly in her own neighborhood in New York City’s Lower East Side. She is the founder of two highly successful non-profit organizations and four photography galleries. Recently retired as Founder and Director Emeritus of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, she has returned to her roots as a photographer and culture curator. 

Pentecost’s first gallery on 6th Street and Ave.B (1969-74) is where the Nuyorican Poetry Club was born. From there she opened the 7th & 2nd Gallery in Middle Collegiate Church (1984-1985), The Art+Community Gallery at The Lower Eastside Girls Club (1996-2020), and Foto Espacio (f.2021) at La Sala de Pepe. Foto Espacio’s primary focus is to support Latinx and indigenous photographers through an extensive network of U.S, and global partnerships developed over decades in the field.

Dr. Pentecost, a lifelong Lower Eastsider and urban homesteader, holds degrees from Cooper Union (BFA) and Temple University (MA in Visual Anthropology, PhD in Urban Anthropology). She has been a Rockefeller Fellow in Museum Education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and has held faculty positions at CUNY and NYU. In 1973 she produced the groundbreaking multi-media exhibition “Hands and Hearts, Traditional Skills of The Lower East Side” in which the community took over the entire Museum of Contemporary Crafts on East 53rd Street. Her early video work documenting New York City ‘creatives’ and indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas Mexico, co-produced with her husband Dave Pentecost, are now in the collections of The New York Public Library, MOMA, The Musee de l”Homme Paris, NHK Television Tokyo ,and numerous archives.