The exhibition "Welcome to Paradise: ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" by Seattle-based Boricua artist Jo Cosme opens at ARTS at King Street Station on November 6, 2025. Featuring over 30 artists from Borikén/Puerto Rico, the show confronts the colonial reality and disaster capitalism affecting the island, using the tools of tourism and advertising to challenge viewers' perceptions of Puerto Rico as a tropical paradise.
This exhibition matters because it directly addresses the ongoing U.S. control and exploitation of Puerto Rico through art, centering voices from the island and the diaspora. By situating this critical work in a public, free gallery space dedicated to racial equity, ARTS at King Street Station amplifies underrepresented perspectives and uses art as a vehicle for social justice and decolonization.