Freddy Castiblanco is a Colombian-American cultural entrepreneur, social justice advocate, and physician — founder and curator of Terraza 7, a cultural space in Jackson Heights-Elmhurst, Queens, serving immigrant, Latinx, and diasporic communities for over two decades.
Trained as a physician in Bogotá, he brings to his cultural practice the conviction he formed there: that art, health, and justice cannot be separated.
After emigrating to New York in 2000, Castiblanco opened Terraza 7 in 2002, transforming a deteriorated storefront on Roosevelt Avenue into one of the city’s most influential intercultural venues. Rejecting ethnic silos for genuine cross-cultural encounter, he has presented thousands of concerts pairing traditional and contemporary artists such as jarocho and huasteco ensembles, Cuban batá drummers, and jazz musicians cultivating hybrid forms rooted in immigrant memory and diasporic exchange.
His cultural work is inseparable from his advocacy. As an immigrant small-business owner and physician, he has organized before the NYC Council, U.S. Congress, and the White House for health care access, workers’ rights, protection of small businesses from displacement, and against trade policies harmful to working people.
With support from NALAC’s 2026 Fund for the Arts, Castiblanco will present Educación para la Democracia, a ten-week documentary film series on the impact of U.S. military interventions in Latin America. Public screenings will be followed by facilitated conversations with filmmakers, scholars, and activists, extending Terraza 7’s film programming into a space for critical reflection and dialogue.
Image by Freddy Castiblanco