Saturday, October 24, 2026
For many, retirement is a time to slow down, but for Jefte Valle, it marked the beginning of a vibrant new chapter as an artist.
The 72 year-old Valle, whose work will be featured at the Freeport Recreation Center’s Art Alcove in September in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, has a story as colorful and inspiring as his paintings. His art, according to Larry Dresner, executive director of the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport, displays a “great variety of themes and subject matter. His artistic style is very engaging.”
Jefte and his wife Milagros have been married for 47 years and have three adult children and five grandchildren. They live in Elmont.
His exploration of the world of art began just 13 years ago, when he was 59.
“I started very late,” he recalled. “I was with my granddaughter, and she was painting with tempera paint on an easel. I just sat down with her and started painting.” What began as a bonding moment quickly blossomed into a passion.
“I liked it. And I said, ‘I think I want to pursue this,’” he said.
Valle turned to YouTube tutorials and workshops to learn the challenging medium of watercolor. “Watercolor is one of the hardest media to learn, but it interested me a lot and challenged me,” he said.
His dedication paid off, leading to exhibitions at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition; Café Art, in Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem; and the Barrio Art Space, also in Spanish Harlem.
Retired from a 40-year career as a medical laboratory technologist in Brooklyn, Valle now finds fulfillment and purpose in art. His work is deeply rooted in his Puerto Rican heritage and his youth in Brooklyn.
“More than half of my art is depicting Puerto Rican culture,” he said. His paintings capture the vibrancy of Puerto Rican traditions, from the classic Paso Fino horses to the African-influenced bomba dance.
Nature is another significant influence on his work. “I see God’s creation and everything in the detail and the colors in the lighting of the sun on the landscape,” he said, “and I see that as a gift and something that God gave us to enjoy.”
Valle’s plein-air painting sessions with the Nassau Art League and the Art Group of Rockville Centre help him capture the beauty of the outdoors on canvas.
Community is at the heart of Valle’s art. He volunteers as a watercolor instructor at Belmont Park, teaching track workers and their families. “I do it (on) a volunteer basis,” he said. “There’s a group community there, workers … at the Belmont race (track). We meet once a week in the evening, and I teach them some watercolor. Some of them are mothers, and they bring their children and they paint together.”
Valle’s story is one of resilience, creativity and the transformative power of art. Having moved from Brooklyn to Elmont 30 years ago to provide a safer environment for his family, he now enjoys the peace and quiet of Long Island. For him, art is more than a hobby — it’s a form of meditation and self-discovery.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time,” he says, quoting Thomas Merton an American Trappist monk and a noted author who wrote a number of books about spirituality in the mid-twentieth century. “When I’m in art, I disconnect from the world, and I’m in the creative part and time just flies.”
Valle’s exhibition at the Alcove opens Sept. 1, offering a window into the rich tapestry of his life and heritage. For those interested in learning more about his work, he can be found on Instagram, at @valleson, or on his website, JefteValle.com.
