The birthday of Artigas

Today, June 19, is a national holiday in Uruguay celebrating the birthday of José Gervasio Artigas, the country's greatest hero.

The holiday follows by less than a week this year the annual "fiesta days" in Montevideo, Minnesota (pop. 5,331) marking that city's century-long relationship with Uruguay.

Members and friends of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners (a selection of whom are pictured below) gathered last weekend for the festivities, which included good food and drink, fine company and not least song (flags were raised and both national anthems were sung to mark the special day).

On behalf of the many, many Minnesotans who have been so thoughtfully hosted in Uruguay over the nearly half century since the founding of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, we want to extend our warm wishes for a wonderful "Natalicio de Artigas" holiday to our friends in Uruguay today.

Dr. Nury Bauzán, Uruguay's Consul General in Chicago,
and Montevideo Mayor Debra Lee (fifth and sixth from left, respectively)
at the June 15 "Fiesta Days" celebration in Montevideo, MN.

Thank you Big Blue!

Minnesota-Uruguay Partners of the Americas is delighted to acknowledge a generous donation from IBM in support of our mission for 2013. The company has been a steadfast supporter of our work across the state and abroad for years. Its financial contributions have helped expand our capacity to ensure high-quality programs can continue well into the future. Thank you Big Blue for your significant and continued support!

Minnesotans Welcomed in Uruguay by Partners Volunteers

Last month marked the arrival in Uruguay of the University of Minnesota's annual "May Term" Art Department trip. Emerging artists from Minnesota spent the month meeting with renowned Uruguayan artists across a range of disciplines and media.

It also marked the first visit of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners member Tara Gupta to Montevideo, who was invited by the United States embassy to speak at an event on youth leadership. Tara was Minnesota's delegate to the annual Partners convention in Colombia in 2011, where she was invited to speak on her nonprofit work as an Edina High School student with Seva Football, a group she founded to engage and advance young girls through sports. 

The Minnesotans were welcomed warmly and with much generosity by the Uruguay-Minnesota chapter of Partners throughout their stay. The chapter's regular meeting, which included the art students and Tara, is pictured below.

Museum Branding Workshops Draw Top Art Community Leaders Together

Lyndel King, a past board director of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners and the curator of the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, returned last week from a Partners trip to Uruguay to share best practices in museum branding.

Lyndel and her co-leader for the seminars, Yamamoto Moss ad agency head Shelly Regan, worked with scores of art community professionals in Uruguay over 10 days under a Partners of the Americas travel grant.

They were hosted with extraordinary warmth and generosity by Marta Aronja, the highly regarded Uruguayan architect who is a board director of our counterpart chapter in Montevideo, along with many others in Uruguay's outstanding arts and culture community.

Welcome back Lyndel and thank you all!

Friends and members say farewell to Marcos Villanueva

Friends and members gathered at the beautiful home of Sarah Trembley in Bloomington on Sunday to say heartfelt good-byes to Marcos Villanueva on the eve of his return to Uruguay after more than a decade in Minnesota.

Marcos, a board director of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, has advanced our organization in many ways. A generous host to visitors and wonderful guide to our state, it's been Marcos smiling over the parrilla, our asador at countless events masterfully grilling grass-fed beef for scores of hungry guests. His contributions to the group are simply too many to list here.

Marcos is returning to Uruguay with plans to advance his career there after working in accounting and financial services in the United States. We know he'll stay involved with the chapter in Montevideo, and we look forward to keeping in touch with him.

Buen viaje Marcos, hasta luego!

  

Weisman Art Museum Director Off to Uruguay

Lyndel King, a long-time member and past board director of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, is off to Uruguay this month working on a Partners travel grant to conduct seminars with professionals around the country on museum branding. Lyndel is the director and curator of the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, the first art museum designed by Frank Gehry, which underwent a multi-million-dollar expansion under Lyndel's leadership last year.  She's joined in her Partners project in Uruguay by another Minnesotan, Shelly Regan, the president of Yamamoto, the renowned international advertising agency.

Uruguay nabs another investment-grade rating

Good news. Fitch Ratings on Thursday granted Uruguay a coveted investment-grade rating. This generally lowers a country's borrowing costs and can put more money back into the hands of its citizens. Congratulations Uruguay!

Job openings for internationalists...

Happy new year, friends and members! Looking for a new job in 2013?

Partners of the Americas in Washington tells us that they are hiring a program development officer. See the job listing here.

Closer to home, our friends at the Minnesota International Center are looking for development expertise, as well. See their job posting here.

Announcing the new schedule for Spanish classes

Our friends at the Global Citizens Network have shared a link to their new schedule for 2013 Spanish classes. You can study with a native Uruguayan if you sign up for the Thursday sessions, it appears. What fun!

Leticia Stabrino

Spanish

Leticia obtained her teaching degree in Uruguay, her country of origin, and moved to the United States in 2005. She worked as a teacher in Montevideo for 7 years and held various jobs in education in Minnesota. She worked as the Latino Liaison at North St. Paul schools and she’s currently working at an alternative high school in Minneapolis. She has been involved with the Resource Center since 2005 where she volunteered, taught and was a board member. At present she’s leading the Intercambios on Saturdays.

Press coverage of Mayor Fader's triip to Uruguay

MONTEVIDEO — Jose Mujica has six bullet wounds and the memory of 14 years in prison to tell the story of his path to public office.
Ana Olivera spent 11 years in exile overseas before she was able to return home and run for office.
Mujica, the president of Uruguay, and Olivera, the mayor of its capital city, were among the Uruguayan office holders who rolled out the red carpet for Debra Lee Fader, mayor of Montevideo, Minn.... Read more!