La Casita Cultural Center helps a quinceañera’s dream come true

Sage and gold balloons surround a 5-foot portrait of a young girl with the words on top: “Welcome to my quinceañera.” Bundles of extravagant and bedazzled dresses, photo portraits, tiaras and other traditions are on display at La Casita Cultural Center‘s 15th anniversary event and exhibit, “Quinceañera Dreams.”

A quinceañera is a tradition popular in most Latin American countries that celebrates a girl’s coming of age on their 15th birthday. The event typically consists of a lavish party where the girl wears a bedazzled, ball gown-esque dress. The 15th anniversary exhibit was full of personal memorabilia from students who have worked at the center over the years, but the highlight was the real quinceañera, the celebration of Syracuse resident Escarlette Navarrete.

“A lot of our students remain connected to La Casita years after they’re gone and many of them have responded to our call to do the community collecting and research project documenting these stories,” Executive Director of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community, Tere Paniagua, said.

The memorabilia displayed throughout the exhibit were from quinceañera’s spanning Peru, Puerto Rico, Texas and Cuba.

“The exhibition has a very wonderful, rich and diverse representation of quinceañeras from everywhere,” Paniagua said.

The team at La Casita thought it was fitting to have an actual quinceañera as part of the exhibit since the organization is celebrating their own 15th year milestone.

Paniagua explained that La Casita posted a call to the community, a year from the anniversary date, if anyone was interested in having their quinceañera a part of the exhibit.

“I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to do it. Maybe we were asking too much for someone  to do this. I mean, this is a really important event for a family,” Paniagua said. 

Navarrete’s mother was already in touch with La Casita staff and after speaking with Paniagua, she mentioned one of her daughters recently turned 15. 

“We didn’t have anything else planned for her because of all the costs and everything,” Navarette’s older sister, Erika Canel, said. “It was perfect timing. It was all God’s timing.”

Panigua recalls Navarette’s mother immediately said yes after she brought up La Casita’s 15th anniversary idea.

After Paniagua gave her opening speech thanking the community that came together, the exhibit immediately turned into a live celebration of Naverrete’s 15th birthday.

“It was just a blessing, to get this opportunity and to share my culture with everybody else,” Navarrete said. “It just warms my heart, and to have other little girls look up to me and maybe wish for their dreams to come true.”

Family, friends and members of the community gathered together in their festive attire eating traditional Cuban foods and celebrating Navarrete.

“There’s ways that your dream can come true,” Navarrete said.