CORAL GABLES MUSEUM CELEBRATES CINTAS ALL STARS IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

Context No. 27 by Manuel Quijano (Fellow 1983-84). Site Plan for Tompkins Square Park, New York City, and Section of Piazza del Popolo, Northern Rome (Map by Nolli). Courtesy of the CINTAS Foundation Collection.

Coral Gables Museum‘s civic art exhibition pays tribute to the CINTAS Foundation‘s generous contribution to the arts and humanities. The Fellows of Architecture and Design recognize the remarkable creative achievements of Cuban and Cuban-descendant artists, celebrating their fellowship projects and works spanning from 1963 to 2022.

The exhibition showcases a variety of photographs, drawings, models, videos, books, and other historical ephemera that encircle the diverse styles and approaches to architecture and design within the Cuban American community. The museum will showcase “All Stars” through Sunday, July 30th.

The curation is organized into different categories such as urbanism, local projects, storytelling, exhibition design, cultural landscapes, international highlights, and Cuban heritage of innovation. It highlights the similarities and differences among the motifs of the 31 featured architects and designers. Among them, three are women: Miriam Guesevich, Marta Canavés, and Marylis Nepomechie.

Three of the most recognized participants of this curatorial selection are Jorge L Hernández, Rolando Llanes, and José Gelabert-Navia.

Jorge L Hernández, a 1983-1984 CINTAS Fellow, is a distinguished Architecture practitioner and professor at the University of Miami. He has overseen various critical local projects, including the master plan for the Old Spanish Village, the Brickell Avenue Bridge, and the expansion of the Coral Gables Museum. He’s also dipped his toes into exhibition design, his collaboration with photographer Carlos Domenech at the European Cultural Centre’s Venice Architecture Biennale being a prime example. Recently, Hernández finished his most recent project, the Our Lady of Belen Chapel. His passion lies at the junction of architectural design and preservation, a blend exemplified in his work.

Rolando Llanes, Site Plan, Coral Gables Civic Center, Coral Gables, Florida (1987). Courtesy of Rolando Llanes.

Rolando Llanes (CINTAS Fellow 1984-1985) founded Civica, LLC – a firm specializing in designing public and private educational facilities. With a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami and a Masters from Princeton University, Llanes is committed to preserving historic structures and buildings. He possesses a visionary and pioneering outlook which reflects in his articles, essays, and materials on historic conservation in the civic arts and urban design.

José Gelabert-Navia, a University of Miami professor and CINTAS Fellow from 1987-1988 holds an architecture degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, as well as a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University. During his CINTAS Fellowship, he studied the historical buildings of Coral Gables. Among Gelabert-Navia’s most significant works are the Village of Merrick Park Office and Residential Sectors in Coral Gables, St. Agatha Catholic Church, and the now MOCA Center for Contemporary Art in North Miami. He currently serves as a trustee for the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and as the regional director of Latin America for the architecture firm Perkin + Will.

In collaboration with the CINTAS Foundation, Coral Gables Museum will host a panel discussion on Wednesday, May 24th on how the University of Miami School of Architecture has influenced the fellows on their design projects and teaching experiences. This is an excellent opportunity to ask local leaders about innovation and design.

All Stars: CINTAS Foundation Fellows in Architecture & Design from 1963 to 2022 is an homage to the hard work and creative endeavors the Cuban American Community has accomplished locally and abroad.

WHAT: All Stars: CINTAS Foundation Fellows in Architecture & Design from 1963 to 2022

WHERE: Coral Gables Museum, 285 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134

WHEN: On view through July 30th, 2023.

HOURS: Tuesday-Friday 11 am-5 pm, Saturday 10 am- 6 pm, Sunday 11 am- 5 pm, and Closed Monday

COST: Admission, coralgablesmuseum.org

INFORMATION: 305-603-8067; ask@coralgablesmuseum.org

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