Three Foosaner Art Museum Lecture Programs to Enliven Cuban Exhibitions
MELBOURNE, FLA.—Coming up in August and September are three special events to be presented in conjunction with the Cuban Daydreams and Shared Vision exhibitions at Florida Institute of Technology’s Foosaner Art Museum, which runs through Sept. 9. The presentations take place in the Harris Community Auditorium.
First, Dawn Currie will present In Search of the Real Cuba: A Photographic Journey Thursday, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. This is a free program.
Photographer Currie spent two weeks trekking the island of Cuba from east to west, bringing clinic and school supplies to impoverished areas. She captured her experiences with the landscape, history and people of Cuba through hundreds of photographs. These images of resilience and creativity are available in her two books, In Search of the Real Cuba from East to West: From Ignorance to Insight and Faces of Cuba. Both are available at blurb.com. She will present the images from her books in her lecture.
A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, Currie spent 20 years serving her country throughout the U.S. and overseas. A graduate with honors from the Rochester Institute of Technology, she took classes in both professional photography and photographic processing and finishing. Her photographs have been exhibited across the United States.
Historian Justo J. Sánchez will present Contemporary Cuban Art: A Lecture and Visual Presentation Saturday, Aug. 25, at 4 p.m. This program is free with museum admission.
Sánchez, an award-winning New York cultural journalist, will profile contemporary Cuban art and use the work of Dionel Delgado as a case study in resilience. He will discuss the political changes leading to a transition as well as the economic role of culture for the island. Sanchez will offer insights into the current state of the Cuban art market. Following the lecture, there will be a reception with light refreshments in the galleries.
Sánchez has written for Sotheby’s and renowned art galleries in Florida and the Caribbean. He has lectured at such noted fairs as Art Palm Beach and Art Miami as well as in museums such as the Bass, Lowe and Miami Art Museum. Sánchez has been interviewed by NBC Nightly News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is a high-profile cultural analyst in the U.S. Spanish-language media.
James Quine will present Shared Vision: A Collaborative Photo Project on Baracoa, Cuba, Thursday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. This is a free program.
Quine will discuss the Shared Vision project from his perspective as the director and a participating photographer. Shared Vision is a photographic effort documenting Baracoa, Cuba. Four photographers, two Americans, and two Cubans, James Quine, Theresa Segal, José Martí, and Lissette Solórzano, share their different vantage points through their images. Shared Vision was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Arts Council and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
Quine is a St. Augustine, Fla.-based photographer who specializes in documentary, editorial and fine art photography.
Quine’s first professional experience was over 20 years ago as a photographer on archaeological excavations. He has gone on to specialize in museum and editorial work; his photos have been published in many national publications, including National Geographic, Scientific American and Archaeology Magazine. His book credits include Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean and The Splendor of American Ceramic Art.
Quine began photographing Latin America in the late 1980s during a Caribbean trip to prepare photographs for the book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies. He has since traveled and photographed extensively throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America and Mexico. The resulting photos, which make up his personal work, are an expression of his long-standing fascination with Latin-American music, language and culture. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries and featured in a variety of publications.
The Foosaner Art Museum is located at 1463 Highland Ave. in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne. Its hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday 1-5 p.m. General admission is $5; $2, seniors, children and students with I.D.; free for museum members, Florida Tech faculty, staff and students with I.D. Thursdays are free for everyone.
