Creating El Taller Latino Americano in 1979 and sustaining it for over 45 years is yet another of Palombo's enduring acts. El Taller's mission was inspired by a quote from the author Graham Greene, "Hate was just a failure of imagination"; and since its founding Palombo used his resources and magnetism to build a space where "creativity dispels fear and mistrust among individuals, groups and communities" with programs like, language instruction, musical performances, gallery exhibitions and children’s programs. His Taller takes form around exchanges between North and South, the famous and unknown, native and new New Yorkers.

 

New York has many places where groups of all kinds meet, but the Taller attracts everyone;  El Taller's  agenda is community and creativity. "Growing up in a huge family makes me want to recreate that situation," Palombo says. "Every time there is real dialogue, a little community is born."

 

The Taller is anti-sectarian, "a circle, not a line. We welcome any line that's respectful of people. We don't embrace any politics, the politics happen when people interact." Just as Puerto Rican pride and support for revolutionary Chile and Cuba dominated Palombo's activity in the 1970s, his Taller mirrors the positions of the left in subsequent years protest against the Argentinean junta and enthusiasm for the Sandinista revolution. Amnesty International helped the Taller present exhibits of Argentinean paintings, a performance by actor Norman Briski, and a history of tango by playwright Alberto Adellach. (As Amnesty was denied access to Argentina, human rights activists like Marshall Meyer, the late beloved rabbi of B'nai Jeshrun, and the International Red Cross got political prisoners released; families of Taller students sponsored them and taught them English. From one such refugee, Palombo learned that his censored "Canción por el fusil" had been sung in jail.)

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- from ConFusion by Bell Chevigny (Culture Front Magazine)