Visual Arts
Heidi Paster Harf + Ezra Axelrod Make “Torah Tropical”
HEIDI PASTER HARF is a photographer from Eastern Long Island, who spent the last 15 years photographing daily life in Cali, Colombia, where she lived for two decades. EZRA AXELROD is creative director of ThisTopia, producing Colombian film projects focused on countercultures, regenerative psychoactive plant economies, and social and environmental justice.. Together they made the film “Torah Tropical.”
read moreArtist José Bedia
JOSÉ BEDIA (b.1959) was born in La Havana, Cuba. He was a pioneer of the radical transformation of Cuban Art that inaugurated the Exhibition Volumen 1, which Bedia was an integral part of. His passion for the primal Amerindians complemented his anthropological studies on Afro-Transatlantic cultures, studying in depth the faith, believes and religion of the “La Regla Kongo” (in which he was initiated in 1983), the “ Regla de Ocha”, and the Leopard Society of Abakuas, among many others.
read moreAnya Wallace: Artist, Scholar, Curator
ANYA WALLACE is a visual artist, scholar, and community educator. Her artwork and scholarship are shaped by a desire to narrate the lessons and pleasures existent in Black Girlhood. Wallace holds a doctorate in Art Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Penn State University. And studied photographic critical theory and craft at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is currently the Florence Levy Kay Postdoctoral Fellow in Black Feminist Studies at Brandeis University.
read morePhotographer Alessandro Sarno: From Milano to Miami
Introduction to Alessandro Sarno. 1:19 min. Interview: Raymond Elman. Post-Production: Sophia Bolivar. Music: Ana Camacaro Gomez. Recorded via Zoom. 11/30/2022, Miami. ALESSANDRO SARNO is a Milan based artist who began his journey into photography in 2008 in the Bahamas, where he purchased his first camera. While there, he captured images that documented a transformative personal experience as he was introduced to the deeply spiritual and colorful Bahamian cultural traditions. Sarno has published several coffee table books...
read moreJosé Bedia Back Then (1999)
Editor’s Note: This article, “José Bedia Explores Links Between Cuban and African Art,” by award-winning art critic Elisa Turner was originally published in the Miami Herald in February, 1999. It highlights both the inspirations for José Bedia’s vision, and his unique imagery. You can also watch our 2023 video conversation with José Bedia’s in ArtSpeak.
read moreIn Memoriam: Renowned MAD Magazine Cartoonist Al Jaffee (1921-2023)
FROM 2015: Al Jaffee (b. 1921) is an American cartoonist who is still making cartoons for MAD magazine and, at the age of 94, remembers every cartoon and human interaction we discussed (during our video conversation) in great detail. Al is best known for his work at MAD magazine, where his cartoons have appeared in every issue except one, and he is revered for his signature innovation, the MAD Fold-In.
read moreIconic Architect Moshe Safdie: From Habitat to Yad Vashem
MOSHE SAFDIE is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. Over a celebrated 50-year career, Safdie has explored the essential principles of socially responsible design through a comprehensive and humane design philosophy.
read moreFilmmaker Phil Grabsky Presents the Arts
PHIL GRABSKY is a BAFTA-winning British documentary filmmaker who has received multiple awards for his directing, writing, producing and cinematography.
read morePhotographer Bonnie Lautenberg: From Lady Gaga to Lady Liberty
BONNIE ENGLEHARDT LAUTENBERG grew up in Woodmere, Long Island and is an esteemed photographer, writer, artist, philanthropist, and businesswoman.
read moreCelebrating Women’s History Month 2023
In celebration of WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, 2023, we have curated a group of video interviews from the ArtSpeak archives with prominent women in the arts, who are connected to the Miami and South Florida areas.
read more