NEW YORK (WPIX) – A group of Dominican artists in NYC have come together to help empower new artists and highlight the work of others. Their community includes dozens of artists, from actors to poets, throughout NYC’s neighborhoods.

They are actors, playwrights, and musicians, all part of the Dominican Artists Collective. Formed in 2019 by a handful of passionate artists from Washington Heights, it’s now grown to more than a hundred cultures represented from around the world, all with the same purpose: to expand their culture and community through art.

Dilson Hernandez, 30, is a musician who sings about his roller-coaster-ride of a life, as well as his parents’ journey to America, and what it’s like being raised in NYC by immigrants.

Hernandez plays guitar, sings, and writes his own music. He has a new show debuting at the United Palace in October, which combines his love of traditional Dominican music and contemporary American music.

“I find myself wanting to return to that vibrant essence of who I was as a kid. I start with my parents’ story because there’s a lot of that that exists between immigrants who come to this country,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez is one of more than a hundred artists who come to the Intar Theatre on 52nd St., a place known for fostering innovative contemporary and cutting-edge Latin talent. It’s just one of the community partners of the Dominican Artist Collective.

Gineiris Garcia is an artistic producer of the Dominican Artist Collective. She said the group has grown substantially over the last few years, and its twice-monthly meetings are now packed with talented NYC artists making valuable connections with their community and Dominican culture.

“When artists are given the opportunity to expand their culture and to expand our culture, they can be the Broadway star. They can be a TV star, film star, the community star,” Garcia said.

24-year-old Adrian Costa from Washington Heights is an up-and-coming writer and director of film and stage. To him, becoming a successful artist is more than just a dream.

“It’s more like a calling. It’s more like something I can’t resist. I just have to tell the stories of the people around me that are people of color, that are my people — people from the Bronx,” Costa said.