Miami Dade College Announces its 2011-12 Art Gallery Season
Art by Ramon Carullo, from the Human Boundaries Series
Miami, August 23, 2011 - Miami Dade College’s (MDC) acclaimed Art Gallery System (AGS) continues its mission of exploring the visual arts, offering a diverse program featuring hundreds of emerging and renowned artists from around the world, including pieces from the prestigious CINTAS Fellows Collection, which was recently entrusted to the College.
The 2011-12 AGS season kicks off in grand, Italian style in August with the opening of Mona Lisa Unveiled at MDC’s historic Freedom Tower. The exhibition will showcase a collection of works inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting, created by artists from around the world and dating from the 16th Century to modern day.
The College’s AGS utilizes its gallery spaces, art in public spaces, staff and visual resources, as well as the expertise and artistic talents of faculty and students at MDC, to provide an exciting yearlong program, with events that are free and open to the public. More events will be added soon.
The partial 2011-12 AGS program includes:
Mona Lisa Unveiled
August 26 - October 7, 2011
Freedom Tower
Making its U.S. premiere, MDC brings to South Florida an extraordinary exhibition inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting, the Mona Lisa. The exhibition will showcase various interpretations of the classic, created by artists around the world and dating from the 16th Century to modern day.
Pannaroma
September 2 – October 29, 2011
Kendall Gallery
Pannaroma is a group exhibition of works by master photographers using Thomas Roma’s Pannaroma 1x3 camera, including pieces by award-winning MDC Professor Tony Chirinos. The exhibition will include lectures and workshops for MDC students by visiting photographers.
Old and New
September 12 – October 28, 2011
Homestead Art Space
Old and New will present artwork by Homestead Campus faculty members Peggy Nania and Lucas Blanco. Their unique teaching styles and the diverse artistic media that inspire them are reflected in the pieces to be shown in this exhibition. There will be an opening reception on September 13.
Ralph Provisero: Maquettes and Drawings
September 22 – December 15, 2011
Gallery North
Provisero’s work has been showcased in books, such as Miami Contemporary Artists,The Martin Z. Margulies Collection: Painting and Sculpture and The History of American Graffiti (2010), as well as galleries throughout the country. In this exhibition, Provisero’s preparatory drawings and maquettes for his large-scale, innovative and often playful sculptures will be on view, providing a unique first-hand look at how large-scale sculptures are conceived.
Faculty Exhibition
September 8 - October 16, 2011
Wolfson Centre Gallery
This group exhibition features recent work by faculty and adjunct professors in the Arts and Philosophy department at MDC’s Wolfson Campus. They include Joseph Tamargo, Claudia Scalise, Natasha Duwin, Shirley Henderson, Tom Scicluna, Melissa Diaz, Helen Burgos, and Yovani Bauta.
Human Boundaries: New Drawings by Ramon Carulla
October 7 – December 8, 2011
West Gallery
The exhibition will feature new black and white ink-on-paper drawings by Ramon Carulla, a master draftsman and painter known for his carnival-like figures imbued with a tinge of humor and irony. His figures are often depicted against nondescript backdrops, adding to the theatricality of his work.
Fashion from the Inside Out: Isabel and Ruben Toledo
October 19 – December 4, 2011
Freedom Tower
Isabel and Ruben Toledo have built a two-decade creative collaboration that spans fashion, design, painting, illustration and mannequin making. Their exhibition is a celebration of fashion and design that includes a fashion show during Fashion Week and Isabel’s designs and Ruben’s two dimensional works on display at the Freedom Tower gallery on the second floor.
Cintas Fellows Finalists Exhibition
October 28 – December 4, 2011
Freedom Tower
As the sole custodian of the prestigious CINTAS Fellows Collection and host of the annual CINTAS
Fellowship Program, MDC will present an exhibition featuring the work of the five finalists in the visual
arts category. In addition, winners in the music and creative writing categories will be announced at a reception on October 27.
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Original Paintings by Kadir Nelson
November 4, 2011 – January 8, 2012
Freedom Tower
Paintings, sketches and educational materials from the book “We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball,” by award-winning artist and illustrator Kadir Nelson. Nelson spent seven years researching, writing and creating paintings to recreate the story of gifted athletes and determined owners, of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship, both off and on the field. Nelson will present his book in conjunction with the Miami International Book Fair at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15
Memento Mori
An exhibition of watercolors and paintings by Arturo Rodriguez and poems by Alejandro Anreus
November 16 – December 16
Centre Gallery
Combining art and poetry, this exhibition includes 40 watercolors and 31 oil paintings by artist Arturo Rodriguez and 26 poems by Alejando Anreus. The theme was inspired by memento mori, a Latin phrase/idea that warns humans to remember that even in the midst of life there is death. The culmination of their work is a book entitled Memento Mori, guided by the spirit of Francisco de Quevedo, a poet, satirist and writer of Spain’s 17th Century Golden Age.
Faculty Exhibition
November 18, 2011 – January 15, 2012
Kendall Gallery
This group exhibition features recent work by faculty and adjunct professors in the Arts and Philosophy department at MDC’s Kendall campus. They include Jennifer Basile, Antonio Chirinos, Alberto Meza, and Yomarie Silva.
Miami International Sculpture Park
Open year-round
North Campus
MDC’s North campus is home to an ever-growing collection of sculpture. Uruguayan-born sculptor Alfredo Halegua and his wife Raquel inaugurated the Park in 2007 with a donation of large–scale sculpture that grace the campus, as well as a group of mid-size works and drawings donated in 2010 that line the walls outside the library. In addition, there are works by three other prominent artists: MDC alumnus Rafael Consuegra, Florida sculptor William King and Cuban-American artist Mario Felipe Almaguer. Audio guide tours are available by calling 305-237-1505.
Exhibition spaces:
Freedom Tower
600 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, Fl. 33132
Homestead Art Space
500 College Terr.
Homestead, Fl. 33030
InterAmerican Gallery
627 S.W. 27 Ave.
Miami, Fl. 33135
Kendall Gallery
11011 S.W. 104 St.
Miami, Fl. 33176
Gallery North
11380 N.W. 27 Ave.
Miami, Fl. 33167
West Gallery
3800 N.W. 115 Ave.
Doral, Fl. 33178
Wolfson Centre Gallery
300 N.E. Second Ave.
Miami, Fl. 33132
MDC gallery exhibitions are free and open to the public. Freedom Tower hours are Tuesday – Friday, 12 - 5 p.m. and Saturday by appointment. For more information, please contact AGS at 305-237-7700, galleries@mdc.edu.
Media-only contacts:
Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director
Tere Estorino, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu, MDC media relations director
Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist
Tarnell Carroll, 305-237-3359, tcarroll@mdc.edu, media specialist
Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu