The Pulteney Street SurveySpring '25
Carry on Tradition
New mixed media works by Walter Cruz ’11 fuse diasporic histories and contemporary experience.
With the materials of city life — concrete, street signs, spray paint and found objects — Walter Cruz ’11 is examining the enduring traditions that shape individual and collective identities.
“Part of the seed was planted at HWS in a class called ‘The Sociology of Architecture.’ That course really got me thinking about how the built environment affects us as people. How does it affect our psyche? What does that look like? I always have that in the back of my mind,” Cruz says.
Drawing on his Dominican heritage and crosscultural experiences growing up in New York City, Cruz’s current body of work, “Carry on Tradition,” is an ongoing series focused on using found objects and architectural materials. Pieces from the series have appeared as part of The Bronx Museum’s biennial show as well as in group shows at El Kilometro Gallery in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Andrew Freedman Home Gallery in New York. Cruz further developed work from “Carry on Tradition” last summer as a fellow at Lighthouse Works, an artist residency program on Fishers Island, N.Y., and during the fall, studied local art and architecture as a fellow at Pocoapoco in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Carry on Tradition” weaves expansive threads into a visually rich tapestry that ranges from Hip-hop and Salsa, to traditional Dominican Diablos Cojuelos masks and the Kifwebe masks of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central Africa, illuminating the intricacies of the African diaspora and the deeper connections that transcend generations. You can learn more about Cruz and his practice via his Instagram @2oceans.
