"Courage is Grace Under Pressure."

Before I left for Cuba, I was told this true story. A very wealthy Doctor wanted to leave Cuba.  The year was 1960. Castro had already sent Batista running. The revolution had begun. Cubans were allowed to leave but could take nothing with them.  Money, art, and anything valuable became the property of the Cuban government. This wise Doctor who had been practicing out in the Cuban countryside, away from the newspapers and political gossip, was not about to leave his money behind.  As he approached customs, the Doctor was commanded to turn over his money. The government officials knew that he was a wealthy Doctor even if he was a little "out of touch" with the happenings in the big city of Havana. The Doctor threw a fit. He yelled, stomped and demanded to keep the money that he had worked for. They condescendingly explained because of his "country living" the Doctor was most likely unaware of the fact that his money would not be leaving Cuba. Finally exasperated, the Doctor opened his cash box and threw $200,000 onto the table in front of Cuban officials and proceeded to board the ship. The officials shook their heads as they collected the "donation."

Ernest Hemingway in Cuba

The Doctor is not the only Cuban who had to leave everything behind. Many artists left their art work behind. If they were unsupportive of the government their artwork was even destroyed. Some of the "destroyed" pieces actually survived and were found hidden within walls  and other odd places. I guess it was hard to be a government worker as well as an art lover. (more on this at a later date)

 Ernest Hemingway was another creative spirit who was forced to leave many of his legendary writings behind. Thankfully they were rescued by Hemingway's secretary and her husband who returned for them. (another good story for a later date)

On a walk, we stumbled upon a place where Hemingway stayed while in Havana. (pink building)

We stepped inside the building where these pictures of Hemingway hung along with his autograph.

One of my favorite Ernest Hemingway quotes is, "Courage is grace under pressure." This quote makes me wonder, do I have courage? I look at the courage it took for the many people who fled Cuba. Some never to make it to safety alive. I look at the courage of those who stayed. I look at the Cuban parents who put their children on a plane headed for the US (see Pedro Pan post) What would I do? How do I overcome challenges? Do I exhibit grace under pressure?

Cubans on Truck Raft 

This past year has been one of new challenges and pressures. The pressures of new challenges have resulted in discovery and self-actualization. The challenges have encouraged me to think in new ways, to view new perspectives and to gain deeper understanding in the field of art education as well as in my own identity. 

My trip to Cuba contributed to my emergence. I stepped out of my comfort zone, embracing the excitement of the unknown.

My interest in various art education pedagogies had been peeked through the stimulating research journals and discussions with other art teachers and Profs within my UF classes.  Seeking her guidance, Dr. Elizabeth Delacruz, a UF Prof. encouraged me to participate in the NAEA research group heading to Cuba. At the Museum where I teach art, Curator of Education Zach Zacharias and Chief Curator Cynthia Duval  both told me to leave my fears behind and to just "Go for it. I would not regret it." They were right. The mix of new found self-confidence, support and encouragement from others projected me towards my Cuba endeavor.

The purpose of this blog was to share with you my journey to Cuba and to articulate discussions. Interestingly, most of my Cuba discussions took place not on this blog, as I thought they would, but in person, in e-mails or on Facebook.  

This blog is part of an Independent Study for my MA.  I find it hard to refer to this experience as an Independent Study. The process of this blog was collaborative. It was an idea formulated through discussions with a very supportive, Dr. C. Roland my supervisor and prof. at UF, as well as other professionals in the art world. However, what makes this blog to me almost a "work of art" in and of itself, is not the author or professors but rather, the Cuban people whose ideas and voices have been politically silenced. People who depict courage in their words, actions and art. This blog is their time to shine.

Although my Independent Study  is coming to an end, I will continue with this blog. My trip to Cuba has placed me on a new road of discovery. Just yesterday, one of my art students told me her grandma was from Cuba.  As I looked at her artwork, I had to catch my breath. Two generations later, I could see color influences and assemblages reminisce to what I had observed in Cuba. This observation begs me to delve deeper down another dusty trail as I articulate her grandmother's time in Cuba and how art played a role in who the grandma is today and what she has passed down to her granddaughter. It causes me to reflect on the fact that maybe the Cubans did manage to leave the island with their art. It may not have been a physical piece of art but rather the essence and ambience of their culture prevalent in the art I saw in my classroom and across the ocean in Cuba.  It may be rather interesting to research the "trickle down" affect of art and the Cuban-American child. 

And for...the rest of the story.

What the Cuban officials, who had confiscated the Doctors hard earned cash failed to see, was the tiny smile on the face of the Doctor as he walked away. The Cuban Doctor had put on the performance of a lifetime. He had exhibited courage through grace under pressure. Little did the Cuban officials know, that this "exasperated" Doctor had a plan. Relying on his intellect and good acting skills, the Cuban Doctor managed to sacrifice $200,000 as a decoy so that he could leave Cuba with $2,000,000 strapped to his stomach. America was to be a new beginning for the Doctor. He solidified his success by having the courage to plan ahead. 

I have plans which will mostly likely take me in unexpected directions. I guess this is somewhat of an oxymoron similar to that of the title "Independent Study." I assure you, the Cuban adventure is far from over.

Future post will include my: 

• My treasure hunt in Cuba and what I found digging in the garbage. 
• My Cuban inspired artwork. 
• Google Earth tour of my trip to Cuba with images. (My attempt to fly back) 
• Further research regarding the influence of Cuba and art produced by 2nd and 3rd generations.
• Mysteries about hidden Cuban artwork
• Vintage Cuban postcards paired with present day images. Havana Revisited -an exhibit coming to MOAS in April.
• and more...

Thank you to my dear Cuban friends for showing me....courage as grace under pressure.

Special education is a prority in Cuba

Exploring Cuba in New Jersey and in New York

Newark, NJ.- The Newark Museum is proud to present "Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul", survey of modern and contemporary Cuban artists that explores the rich cultural roots of Cuban art. This exhibition consists of more than fifty objects, including paintings, works on paper, photographs, sculpture, installations, and audio works by 22 artists. "Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul" features such major figures in Cuban art as Wifredo Lam, Manuel Mendive, Jose Bedia and Sandra Ramos -I believe we were in this artist's home. "Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul" is on view at the museum until August 14th. After Newark, the exhibition is tentatively scheduled to travel to two additional venues: the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City and the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Ajiaco seeks to interpret the diverse social dimensions of Cuban art in a global context through the exploration of its relationship with African, Asian, European, and Indigenous influences and belief systems. The art incorporates the tales of the Orisha of Africa, the calligraphy of Chinese Tao Te Ching, and the rituals of indigenous peoples. The formats change, the materials vary, but the mix remains constant in both Cuban and Cuban American art. Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul is not necessarily about one group however; it explores diaspora, embracing those aspects of Latin American culture that are sympathetic to all. In broader terms, this project addresses both the immigrant experience and the expression of cultural identity in a new place. The curator, Dr. Gail Gelburd, writes, “Isolated and yet educated, restricted and yet heralded, the Cuban artist embodies the angst of their situation and yet embraces the loftiest of goals. Their syncretist tradition and heritage allows them to go beyond the monotheistic traditions in order to find the origins of their soul, the geist or inner spirit of their art.”In 1939, anthropologist Fernando Ortiz characterized Cuban culture as ajiaco, a rich stew consisting of a large variety of ingredients. The ingredients of the “stew” include Catholicism brought in by the Spaniards; the spirituality of the Yoruba slaves and their cultural traditions from Africa; and the Chinese indentured servants who brought Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The base of the stew is the indigenous people, such as Tainos, who were almost wiped out by the Spaniards. This exhibition is a survey of modern and contemporary Cuban artists that explores these rich cultural roots of Cuban art. In contemporary society, the “stew” has become thicker and richer as the influences become more complex and intermixed: the artist now borrows not only from the traditional cultures that populated the island, but also appropriates from contemporary everyday life. The exhibition includes works by leading artists in a variety of media, from paintings, works on paper and photography to mixed-media sculpture and installations. 

Retrived on 2/13/12 Art News Knowledge News -Keeping you in touch with the World of art. (I posted link to this Yahoo group in an earlier post.)

Not only will Cuba be depicted in an art museum, Cuba will also be revisited through the stories told during the National Art Education Association (NAEA) convention in New York on  March 2, 2012. Some of 25 US delegates will have the opportunity to share their experiences with other art teachers/professors. They will also share the unique ways each has utilized their findings in the classroom, local communities and publishings throughout the US. By the way, New York has the second largest concentration of Cuban - Americans. (Miami is first of course.) 

As I am sharing with you various artwork created by Cuban artists, I am diligently constructing my own work of art representing my translation of the Cuba experience. I look forward to sharing this with you in the future. 

Tomorrow, I will be visiting a high school art room, sharing with them images of art work created by teens very much like themselves. My objective is to bridge the ocean between Florida and Cuba using supplies found in knowledge and commonalities.

What can art say? Sometimes, a message that we all need to hear.

Gold Twist by Miguel Rodez

What can art say? Read the artist's statement of Miguel Rodez for a  message that is just as beautiful as his work. Rodez has an exhibit which opened today in Miami Fl.  

In his artist statement, Rodez verbally describes a world that many of us rarely see in our daily lives. While in Cuba, I  saw the student artists creating art at the Art Institute of Cuba, I visited the studios of many well known Cuban artists and I studied the murals throughout the streets of Cuba.  Embodied within each piece of art, I could hear a message similarly to Rodez's message. The only difference was the message I heard was trapped within Cuba's borders. The artwork I saw was censored, relying on abstract symbolism as a replacement for "shouting" to the world.  A world that due to politics may fails to ever hear the Cuban artist's visual "words." 

Art can say a lot. Do not just look at art, listen to the message that the artist is whispering in your ear.  You just may discover that you and the artist are linked together in more ways than one.

MIGUEL RODEZ  ARTIST’S STATEMENT

When not creating art, my work relates to human rights issues.  Like art, the human rights field is an endeavor that is near and dear to my heart.  Some are able to glean how my career choice percolates into my artwork.  In my painting series Imagining Liberation for example, I delve into the world of daydreams from the perspective of people who feel trapped in some way.  In a sense, we are all trapped at one time or another, if not always.  The constrictions that we endure may be physical, political, religious, laboral or social.  It doesn’t matter.  It is the dream that interests me – the aspiration of freedom; the point where at least one link of the chain that binds the dreamers breaks and leads to the hope of liberation.  I manipulate negative elements associated with repression – a chain – and turn it into a positive concept – freedom – by breaking it.  Because I am representing a dream and not manufacturing a chain one could find at a wharehouse, the links that I produce cease to be the gripping darkness that chains symbolize and become magically sensual organic forms that no longer look or behave like a real chain.  Such usage of negative and positive elements seeps into even some of my most abstract work.  Although some may find my output subjectively attractive, my objective is not to create pretty things to match anyone’s couch, but to entice people think about their lives, about the world that we live in and about what can be done to achieve the inner liberation that we all crave deeply though we may choose to supress for the sake of conformity.

Interpretations of Cuba found within the US.

I began this blog with images of artwork residing in Cuba. I thought it might be interesting to explore Cuban art exhibits found within the US. Art is influenced by many factors. Cuban art tends takes on many shades. How is artwork displayed in the US, where we can execute our right to freedom of speech, different from the artwork displayed in Cuba?  I will be posting examples of Cuban flavored artwork found a little closer to home.

Cuban- American artist, Flavio Garciandia works from the late 1970s and '80s employed photorealism, with bright "kitsch" iconography in dimensional paintings and installations questioning Cuban middle-class ideals and the problems that contemporary society has posed for art. Below is a sample of work found in his current exhibit. 

Los Angeles, California.- The Coutourier Gallery is pleased to present " Flavio Garciandia : No Man Is A Brush", on view at the gallery from January 14th through February 25th 2012. Probably Cuba's most influential contemporary painter,  will have his second solo exhibition at Couturier Gallery. Garciandia (b. 1950) is best known for his abstract paintings. The thirteen abstract paintings included in the show represent a new body of acrylic work painted on aluminum and canvas, a recent departure from his oil works on canvas. The opening reception was Saturday, January 14th. 

Information retrieved from Art Knowledge News on January 15th, 2012. This is a yahoo group which shares art exhibits around the world. "Art News"  <signups@artknowledgenews.com> 

Children of Cuba Remember Their Flight To America

Below I have included a link to an interesting interview describing the 1959 flight of Cuban children known as "Pedro Pan." Loving Cuban parents made the ultimate sacrifice as they placed their young children on a plane destined for safety found within the borders of  the US.

Children and parents alike thought they would be shortly reunited only to find out that politics contributed to a permanent separation. Over 14,000 children left Cuba, most facing an unlikely return.

Before leaving for Cuba, I had the privilege to interview a "Pedro Pan" refugee. While living in the US. he has manage to do quite well for himself. He gave credit for his success to the excellent education that he received in Cuba. His story was spellbinding. At a later date, I am hoping to reinterview him in a video recording. My written words cannot convey the emotions heard in his words and seen on his face. Hopefully, he will be comfortable with a web interview. I sensed that there is still a "looking over your shoulder" skepticism in his actions..

Upon landing in Cuba, a fellow delegate noticed certain individuals who were kissing the ground moments after deplaning. One cannot help but wonder, were these "Pedro Pan" children returning to "Neverland?" Returning to Cuba to visit family is a recent allowance.

Another future interview in the making is with some of the "lotto ticket" refugees. These Cubans left Cuba after winning a "lotto ticket" or "free pass" out of the country.

How has past experiences by Cuban parents and grandparents affected their American born child? How does living in a Cuban influenced Miami (500,000 Cuban Americans) affect the child who has grown up, in an environment where the mention of Cuba, carries a different message depending on whose doing the talking? Does heritage and upbringing play a role in who the child becomes?

And as usual... I cannot help but wonder, how does this trickle down, into the art experience? Do these children have unique needs? How can art teachers acknowledge the past, maintain integrity and celebrate diversity? By understanding our students, I feel we can create an environment which encourages meaningful and reflective art.

Check out the link below for the audio or text version of an interview with a "Pedro Pan"survivor. I have also included a number of books for those who are interested.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/19/142534943/pedro-pan-childrens-life-altering-flight-from-cuba

Books on the "Pedro Pan" experience.

What do Cuban Cigars have in common with art?

Photo by Stacey Edwards

What do Cuban cigars have to do with art? Interestingly, a lot. The cigar is to Cuba as the iconic alligator or palm tree is to Florida. In other words, when I say Cuba, many of you would respond cigars. In fact, one of the first questions asked to me was, "Did you bring back any cigars?" The answer is no. We are not allowed to bring Cuban cigars into the US. It has to do with the embargo -but that is a topic for another day. 

The following web site has information on the process of cigar making, for those of you interested in learning what makes thee Cuban cigar legendary. 

www.cubancigarhistory.com

"Cuba is well-known as the land of the best tobacco all over the world. Historians affirm that the first plantations arose in the 18th century, by the East of the Island, and progressively extended to the West. For many years, tobacco was the second exportable production of the nation, after sugar." 

The Cuban cigar plays many roles.  

Economics

Although, the US is not allowed to import cigars however, Cuba does manage to export a large percentage  to other countries, resulting in financial gain. 

Job Security

Working in the cigar factory provides jobs, even if the wages are low. There is an interesting article in, Cigar Aficionado www.cigarafictionado.com 

(The entire Dec. issue is dedicated to Havana) about a grandfather passing down the family cigar business to his grandson. This is common practice in Cuba, along with the passing down of their homes. The grandfather encouraged his grandson to work in the cigar factory even though it was less pay, so that the grandson would appreciate the time and effort that it took to create the perfect cigar. 

If you are interested in how cigars are made you may want to stop at the Museum of Arts and Science Daytona Beach - moas.org They have an authentic Cuban cigar rolling table on display in the Cuba Gallery. 

Art?

There is an art to making cigars but is a cigar a work of art? Most likely not. I think what I appreciate is the care that goes into the creation. The proper technique, the heritage, the quality even the sensory experience are all enticing and embody similar characteristics of art, yet what links these richly contrived assemblages to the art world, is the label on the cigar. merit and craftsmanship enters the picture not only in the making of the cigar itself but in the unique labels found carefully wrapped around each cigar. The process is quite elaborate. I have included a descriptive link below for you. 

"The exquisite lithography, which during many years has accompanied the Cuban Cigar, is, undoubtedly, along with the quality and excellence of it, one of its identity hallmarks.

Opening a Habanos cigar pouch is a party in all senses, where the sight is the first to be delighted before the beauty of the drawing covering the lid in which the brand of the product is advertised. When taking the lid off, we see in the other side what is known as the vista, a multicolored lithography, sometimes embossed and with golden glitters, undoubtedly the most beautiful artistic message of the pouch.

Opposite to the vista, in one of the side of a sheet of paper that is stuck on the pouch and the other free for the smoker to lift up, the bofetón appears.

The Bofetón is an attractive and suggestive drawing, generally of an oval shape that directly covers the first layer of Habanos. The box or pouch is lined in its four sides with the papeleta, a paper ribbon that covers the smelling of the cedar.

To get an idea of the richness of the lithographic art in Cuba, it is enough to say that this has been developed since the first half of the 19 Century when the Island General of the Army, before the wide variety of manufacturers and their respective brands ordered that those were officially registered.

In this way, the numerous collections of lithographies were originated and nowadays, they are a treasure of the Cuban plastic arts where many events of the Cuban society have been represented. By 1829, the Second Lithographic Printer's was inaugurated and since 1839, two lithographies were established in the capital for making the labels of the export cigars. The golden polychromy adorning the boxes were started to be made in 1880.

These collections of marquillas cigarreras, bofetones and anillas can be seen in the Museum of the City, in the Habano Museum and in many private collections. The art of collecting such lithographic samples is known as Vitofilia"

Retrieved from: www.cubancigarhistory.com on2/2/2012.

Just as early Floridian artists included palm trees and the alligator in their artwork to symbolize the exotic and Romantic genre of Florida. The Cuban cigar with its beautiful labels, symbolizes social and economic struggles in Cuba as well as the Romanticism many associate with this exotic land. 

For a glimpse of the iconic alligator in FL art visit:  Museum of Arts and Science - Daytona beach moas.org currently is exhibit Reflections II, "Watercolors of Florida 1835 -2000."