Carlos Luis Garcia
Revson Fellow 2000-2001
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Charas, Inc.
Carlos Luis Garcia is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Charas, Inc. and El Bohio Public Development Corporation, a community center that has provided venues and studio space for established and emerging artists, as well as space for arts education, therapy, and for community organizations on the Lower East Side, for over two decades. Mr. Garcia is a consultant on community, cultural, economic, and youth development who has served a variety of institutions including the New York City Board of Education, the Puerto Rican Youth Public Policy Institute, the White House Conference on Youth, the Latino White House Conference, the Joseph Papp Theater, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity.
He is a dedicated community activist and leader and an innovator in the Sweat Equity Movement to reclaim derelict buildings for Lower East Side community residents. He has served on a number of boards including Community Planning Board 3, Cultural Management Services, El Bohio, and the Lower East Side Joint Planning Council, which he chaired for four years, from 1994-1997.
Most recently–through many struggles including boycotts, protests, and court cases–he helped to delay the process by which the City and developers are attempting to evict community groups and artists using Charas/El Bohio facilities, which are housed in a former abandoned public school building on East 9th Street.
While at Columbia, Mr. Garcia plans to study urban planning and social and political movements and to explore models for community organizing and development to counter the challenges of gentrification.
(The Revson Fellow’s biography that appears above was last updated in 2000. Revson Fellows may update their biographies on this site by sending email to: revson@columbia.edu)
Courses, camaraderie, community–the fellowship provided all three in an engaging fashion. I thought as a mid-career professional I would feel out of synch with the students but their perspectives challenged me and the professors, the books I would have never read on my own and the guest speakers refreshed and enlivened my thinking and work practices. The fellowship felt like a sabbatical–only it took place on-campus.
