Myrna Salazar, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance passed away on Thursday, August 3, 2022, two weeks after celebrating her 75th birthday.
Salazar will always be a Chicago legend, leaving a legacy as a Latina trailblazer who shattered glass ceilings throughout her career. Until her last day, Salazar championed the equality and representation of Latino artists in mainstream media and Chicago’s live theater scene.
“It is with deep sadness and shock that we share with you the sudden passing of our beloved girlfriend Myrna Salazar,” said Marty Castro, CLATA Board President and President and CEO of Castro Synergies, LLC. “To say Myrna was a force of nature would be an understatement. She has been a leader, advocate, change maker and a strong voice for the Latino community on issues from education to the arts. She was and always will be part of our family and we mourn her loss. CLATA is part of her legacy and we will continue to work in her memory to ensure her continued success.”
Carlos Tortolero, President, CEO and Founder of the National Museum of Mexican Art, said, “Myrna was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, super-arts activist. In just a few years, she made the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance into a cultural force. in Chicago, across the country, and across Latin America. She is truly a Chicago cultural treasure and will be sorely missed.”
A native of Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago, Salazar began her career as an Economic Development Specialist at the West City Economic Development Corporation. In this capacity, she generated over $10 million in private and public sector housing procurement and business development. During that time, she completed a two-year fellowship with the National Economic Development Council and was appointed by then-Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne to the Chicago Board of Education, where she served for five years.
Salazar was a marketing and advertising expert with over 35 years of experience. She was the Founder and President of Salazar & Navas Talent Agency Inc., where she successfully secured contracts for over 300 professional actors, models and spokespeople for a client base of 50+ Fortune 500 companies. She was proud to have nurtured and launched careers tv/movies for some local actors working on both coasts like Justina Machado, Aimee Garcia, Raul Esparza and Nadine Velazquez to name a few.
From 2007 to 2011, Salazar served as Director of Development and Marketing at the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC), which produces the Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF), among other programs.
In 2016, Salazar co-founded and became the Executive Director of the Chicago Latino Alliance (CLATA), a non-profit organization launched to help elevate the city’s local Latino theater community to a more prominent level. She co-founded CLATA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with three of Chicago’s most prominent Latino arts organizations: the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and Puerto Rican. Arts Alliance (PRAA).
CLATA’s signature program is Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival. Now in its fifth year, Destinos is an annual worldwide festival that showcases Chicago’s Latino theater artists and companies alongside the best Latino artists from the US and Latin America. The 5th Destinos takes place from September 14 to October 16, 2022 at venues across the city.
Additionally, under Salazar’s leadership, CLATA has provided local Latino theater groups with ongoing organizational and financial support and has worked diligently to create a permanent home for Chicago’s Latino theater artists.
Fittingly, Salazar was immortalized on a Chicago stage and featured in the New York Times as the inspiration for the character “Myrna,” Chicago’s first Puerto Rican Queen Day Parade in 1966, crowned in the Aragon Ballroom of Chicago, at Teatro Vista 2017. hit musical La Havana Madrid by Chicago theater artist Sandra Delgado.
Salazar has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions from many organizations. Most recently, in June 2022, she was named a Sor Juana Award recipient by the National Museum of Mexican Art for her outstanding impact on Chicago’s arts and culture industry. Other honors include recognition from the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Illinois ASPIRA, Latino Fashion Week, Teatro Vista and, in 2019, in commemoration of Women’s History Month, the Woman Award Distinguished Excellence in Music and Theater Arts by the Honorable Dorothy Brown, former Cook County Circuit Court Clerk, among many others.
Salazar held a Bachelor’s degree from the Regent’s External Program from the State University of New York and an Associate’s degree from Columbia College Chicago in Broadcast Communications and Arts Management. She also completed a two-year seminar series in Capacity Building/Arts Management at the Kennedy Center. She served on the board of Choose Chicago and the League of Chicago Theaters and is a member of the Mayor Lightfoot Cultural/arts committee.
Salazar is survived by her children Yvette (Steve) Sharp, Iliana (Greg) Romero, stepson Christopher Dovalina, grandchildren Ariela Romero, Andrés Romero, Gabriela Bibbens, y Gabe Sharp, her mother Carmen Rosado Feliciano, sister Carmen Salazar. She is survived by her first husband, Florentino (Rosellen) Mitchell and was preceded in death by her second husband, Cesar Dovalina, former owner of the Spanish language newspaper, La Raza and La Margarita restaurants.
Information regarding funeral services is forthcoming.
