Interviews: 2015
Climakaze Miami & Elizabeth Doud
Climakaze is an annual event that explores two key questions: (1) How do artists effectively draw attention to climate change, rising sea levels, and the environmental consequences? And (2) How does one engage pods of diverse artists, as well as the broader community, in a free-flowing dialogue about environmental issues?
read moreStephen Kinzer:
Our Man in Istanbul, Berlin, and Nicaragua
Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning foreign correspondent who has covered more than fifty countries on five continents. Stephen worked at the New York Times for more than twenty years, serving as bureau chief in Turkey, Germany, and Nicaragua. He previously worked as Administrative Assistant to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and then as Latin America correspondent for the Boston Globe. Stephen has written nine books on foreign affairs. The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire...
read moreCelebrating the Miami Book Fair: A Conversation with Mitchell Kaplan
The Miami Book Fair (MBF) is the largest book fair in the United States. In 2014, MBFI celebrated its thirtieth anniversary and presented over six hundred writers to hundreds of thousands of readers. Held every November at Miami-Dade College in the heart of downtown Miami, MBFI is an eight-day literary party that has consistently attracted the participation of the world’s major literary figures. The book fair was cofounded by Mitchell Kaplan, the owner/founder of Books & Books, and Eduardo J. Padrón, the president of Miami-Dade College...
read moreSoothsayer of Society: A Conversation with Artist/Activist Jay Critchley
In this highly polarized political climate of 2016, Jay Critchley’s uninhibited, fearless genius at making the world a stage — his uncanny, inspiring, even prophetic multi-media installations and performance events focusing on the environment, from pollution and dependence on fossil fuels to climate change, rising sea levels and corporate greed — has found its moment. Jay Critchley, Incorporated, a traveling retrospective of Critchley’s geo-political concerns over three decades, will be installed, with added pieces done in...
read moreFrom Lawyer to Museum Director: A Discussion with Jill Deupi
While attending a lecture by National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier at the Lowe Art Museum, I ran into a classically dressed woman with a modest Audrey Hepburn hairstyle. I would soon find out that this woman was Dr. Jill Deupi, who became the new Beaux Arts Director and Chief Curator of the Lowe Art Museum in August, 2014. Following Rainier’s lecture, I made a point of introducing myself to Dr. Deupi. Through our conversation, I learned that she had an interest in law and had even passed the bar exam. Despite her legal background,...
read moreHaitian Gingerbread
Rain is pouring down in Little Haiti. The colorful storefronts are bathed in a torrential downpour. Inside the Little Haiti Cultural Center, people are taking cover. The halls are echoing with the bustle of children’s activities. The gallery space inside is a long nave, where warm Miami light floods in through large floor-to-ceiling windows, evenly spaced along the west wall. The windows drip with fresh rain and the air inside is thick with an intoxicating tropical humidity. The gallery exhibition is comprised of architectural relics...
read moreThe Art of Healing: A Discussion with Natalia Vásquez
I first met Natalia Vásquez at Bala Vinyasa Yoga studio in Coral Gables in a Slow-Flow Restorative class. Her teaching style and presence in the room during the class exuded an energy of healing and relaxation. As I started attending her classes, I discovered that Vásquez is a photographer and artist who creates artwork about coping with depression. This process of connecting to the self and creating in reaction to emotional resistance has resulted in vibrant conceptual photographs and installations in which Vásquez re-affirms her...
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