Video: 2016
Philip Levine: Art, Climate Change, Immigration, & Politics
Introduction to Philip Levine. 1:09 min. Photo: Raymond Elman. Philip Levine (b. 1962) is an American businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Miami Beach from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, he is a candidate for the Florida governorship. Philip Levine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to South Florida at the age of 10. He attended Attucks Middle School and Hollywood Hills High School in Hollywood, Florida. Levine is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science....
read moreFredric Snitzer: Dean of Miami Art Dealers
Introduction to Fredric Snitzer. 1:43 min. Video Editing: Michelle Marchante. Camera, Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Fredric Snitzer was born in Philadelphia in 1950, where he attended Fleischer Art Memorial as a child, and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) as a sculptor. He later earned an MFA degree from Penn State University. Snitzer eventually migrated to the Miami area, where his brother was finishing his neurosurgery residency. In 1977, Snitzer opened his first...
read moreA Conversation with Author Debra Dean
DEBRA DEAN is the bestselling author of four critically acclaimed books that have been published in twenty-one languages. Her debut, “The Madonnas of Leningrad,” was a New York Times Editors’ Choice novel, a #1 Booksense Pick, a Booklist Top Ten Novel, and an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year. It was long listed for the IMPAC International Dublin Literary Award. “Confessions of a Falling Woman,” a collection of short fiction, won the Paterson Fiction Prize and a Florida Book Award. Her most recent book is “Hidden Tapestry: Jan Yoors, His Two Wives, And The War That Made Them One.”
read moreElizabeth Gelman: Keeping the Candles Lit
ELIZABETH GELMAN was named Executive Director of The Florida Holocaust Museum in January, 2013. Also a published author and playwright, Gelman is married to composer Tom Sivak and the mother of two daughters.
read moreCelebrating Composer Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Introduction to Mario & Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco. 1:35 min. Design: Raymond Elman. I first met Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco at a Tribute Concert for her grandfather, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, at Florida International University in 2017. The concert was part of the Miami International GuitART Festival which celebrated the musical legacy of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), one of the foremost guitar composers in the 20th century. Born in Florence, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was descended from a prominent Jewish banking...
read moreA Conversation with Artist Mario Pérez
Mario Pérez was born in San Juan, Argentina, in 1960. In 2003, Pérez was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. His art often features tiny figures in immense landscapes, and unique backgrounds. His work has been regularly featured in leading auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York.
read morePoet Campbell McGrath
CAMPBELL MCGRATH grew up in Washington, D.C. where he attended Sidwell Friends School. He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1984 and his MFA from Columbia University’s creative writing program in 1988. He currently lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and teaches creative writing at Florida International University.
McGrath has been recognized by some of the most prestigious American poetry awards, including the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award (for “Spring Comes to Chicago”, his third book of poems), a Pushcart Prize, the Academy of American Poets Prize, a Ploughshares Cohen Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, and a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award.” In 2011 he was named a Fellow of United States Artists. In 2017 McGrath was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.
read moreLuca Porcelli: Italy’s Gift to Miami
Introduction to Luca Porcelli. 1:09 min. I first met Luca Porcelli during Art Basel Miami Beach week in 2015, when he was exhibiting his work at Poltrona Frau in the Miami Design District. I had heard about Porcelli and his unique artwork when I lived in Italy, and it was my great pleasure and honor to finally meet him. An extravagant man, who never ceases to amaze with his creativity across various medium, Porcelli moved to Miami for stimulation, to learn new techniques, and to become a better teacher for the artists of...
read moreTalking Art & Design with Tim Rodgers
Introduction to Tim Rodgers. 1:40 min. Video: Produced by Robin Hill and provided courtesy of The Wolfsonian–FIU Tim Rodgers has been the director of The Wolfsonian—FIU since 2015. Rodgers previously served as the director of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as Vice President of The Scottsdale Cultural Council (SCC), a private, non-profit organization that administers the city’s arts and cultural programs and facilities. As director of SMoCA he successfully oversaw...
read moreA Video Chat with Pulitzer Prize-Recipient Jane Smiley
Introduction to Jane Smiley. 3:00 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Video Montage: Jade Cheek. Music: Hard Times Come Again No More · Stephen Collins Foster · Alisa Jones Wildwood Flower. Jane Smiley (b.1949) was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. She obtained a BA in literature at Vassar College, then earned an MA, MFA, and PhD from the University of Iowa. While working toward her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a...
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