Carmen Álvarez Feldman

Born in 1935 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Carmen arrived in Buffalo in 1964 with her husband, poet Irving Feldman, and their son Fernando, after sojourns in France, Spain and Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. Before embarking on her career as a sculptor, Carmen, a UB Master of Social Work, initiated the Puerto Rican desk in the UB EPIS program where she was charged with recruiting Puerto Rican students to UB. Later, she worked informally as an activist and organizer in the Buffalo Puerto Rican community. Carmen's sculptures were exhibited in the Canton, (Ohio) Art Institute, Lehigh University, and in both the Museo de Bellas Artes of San Juan and of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Her bust of Congressman Herman Badillo was installed in the Herman Badillo School [in Buffalo, New York] in 1978. Her bust of the English poet Robert Graves is in the permanent collection of St. Johns College, Oxford. Carmen is survived by Irving and Fernando and her grandchildren Natasha and Alexander. (Obituary in The Buffalo News, Dec. 27, 2020)

The Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York Inc. and Western New York Hispanic Community also extended their sincere condolences to the family of Carmen Alvarez-Feldman, writing: "Mrs. Alvarez-Feldman along others are recognized Hispanic pioneers that were instrumental in the development of the Bilingual Program within the Buffalo Public School System better known today as the Multilingual Department. She was also part of several community leaders that named Buffalo Public School #76 the Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy. The Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy #76 is known as the location where leaders like Mrs. Alvarez-Feldman and others met in the 1970’s to advocate for Bilingual Education in the Buffalo Public Schools."