The Cuban Research Institute (CRI), in collaboration with the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, held a Summer Art Institute for Teachers from July 13 to 17, 2015 at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. The institute was cosponsored by the Frost Art Museum and the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), with support from the Darlene M. and Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection at FIU and the LACC U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant.
The institute, entitled Art, Culture, and Identity: Picturing Cuba through the Darlene M. and Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection at FIU, sought to make more widely accessible the valuable resources of Florida International University, the nation's premier center for research and public programs on Cuba and its diaspora. In particular, the institute took advantage of the Darlene M. and Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection at the Frost Art Museum, which illustrates the historical trajectory of Cuban art since the late 1800s.
The institute provided participants the opportunity to deepen their comprehension of the significance of Cuban and Cuban-American art for the construction of national and diasporic identities, with the goal of advancing teaching in the humanities at the participants' respective schools. The participants consisted of 28 K-12 schoolteachers of several content areas in the humanities and social sciences, including art, language and literature, music, and history. Participants received 40 Master Plan Points through "My Learning Plan" offered by the Division of Academic Support, Visual Arts Education Program, of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
The institute's lecturers included Jorge Duany, Anelys Álvarez, Ray T. Azcuy, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, María Caridad Cumaná, Carol Damian, Elizabeth Cerejido, and Bárbara Cruz. Patricia Duany led group discussions. Participants viewed the Pérez Art Collection and two current exhibits on Cuba-related topics at the Frost Art Museum, guided by curators Klaudio Rodríguez and Miriam Machado. Participants also toured the Cernuda Art Gallery, guided by Ramón Cernuda, and PAMM. On the last day, they visited Humberto Calzada's art studio.
The program of the institute can be downloaded here.
To view pictures of the institute, click here.
