day one Cuba continues....

So as I mentioned before- we had a very nice lunch- the place - called Divino was located outside the city and had a small organic farm behind the house/restaurant.  Since I was in Cuba last (roughly four years earlier) the growth of the paladar (private restaurants) was the first and most obvious difference in Cuba. While there the last time, we ate in mostly state owned restaurants (which having first dibs on the best food sources- were excellent for the most part.) We had a meal at one paladar on the planned itinerary during the first trip and we ate at two others when meals were "on our own."

Now the bulk of our meals will be at paladars - which for the most part - are out of the economic reach for most Cubans but which are a real and growing source of private income for the families that have turned their front rooms of their houses (or built an addition for a dining room) into restaurants.
This meal was excellent as well- simple but delicious. After the meal had concluded we had our first people to people discussion with a local artist whose work was displayed in the restaurant.  I will show a number of his works - this show focused exclusively on Fidel and the artist's hyper-real style made the works quite compelling.

the artist told us the story behind the painting in the photo below - when he was young his dad took him to see Fidel give a speech and they had to stand behind a fence - he was so small that even when they held him up to the fence he could only see Fidel's hat - so that was what Fidel looked like to him...

these paintings are in large format which I think works marvelously with the giant personality cult surrounding Fidel- he is larger than life in so many ways - even in the view of the U.S.

we had a private room but the restaurant is mostly located on a beautiful terrace overlooking the farm and gardens...

after hearing from the artist we went into the farm - the first stop was at an old style farm house which is used sometimes for events and serves as a coffee shop and also from time to time a senior community center...

you can see what terrifically beautiful blue skies we had- however it was unseasonably warm and humid the whole trip- roughly ten degrees warmer than usual and the locals were not pleased as many do not have AC and would like overnight cooling for sleeping-

as we left we came face to face with a cute blue car with a fun shadow that gave it a wave pattern - as if it were saying "hello! welcome to Cuba" - which was pretty much the response we got from everyone we met during our almost two weeks there- a huge smile, a warm welcome and if they spoke with us they said how happy they were that we were there.... a big open hearted place when it comes to the people and since we were on a people-to-people trip - that was our experience across the board.

we checked into our hotel after a short briefing session (hello Mike???? BRIEF!) and found a very nice room 310- with working AC and working hot water but not so much cold...LOL- we learned on day one the reply to complaints about things like this were pretty much the same all over- "so sorry, this is Cuba..."

we gathered again later in the evening to head to another paladar (privately owned restaurant) called La Moraleja (as in "the moral of the story is...")

there we had a terrific family style meal with pork, beef, lobster and more and (I think) the soon to be standard dessert of flan- LOL I didn't take photos so am not 100% certain... there was music (another thing that we will ALWAYS have is music with dinner and also with most lunches..)

And, of course there was a welcome drink - again a standard offering. When I was here last, this was also the case, but now things have changed somewhat- they were served with rum every time last time - this time they were served virgin and then the server asked who wanted rum and how much and went around the table or room and made them virtually "to order"- a big improvement. As with last time,  when Jennifer and I found this a delightful practice - I did so again, and even Phil who had not been a huge rum fan beforehand became a fan during the trip.

and since it was the last night of Hanukkah, Raul had brought along a Hanukiah to light - the group is, not surprisingly, half Jewish- LOL... since the trip returns to the U.S. on December 23rd - this made sense to us...

at the end of the meal they passed around a box of cigars so we could each chose one for ourselves- LOL and with nearly everything in Cuba being "currency" Raul encouraged us to each take one as he had a place later on to drop off the cigars where they would be appreciated and perhaps be turned into something else which could then be passed along to someone in need to the next item...

Phil shows the size and we take our two and later pass them to Raul on the bus ride back to the hotel- for his plastic bag in which to carry them for us... it is loaded by the time the group of 20 "gifts" their cigars to him (no one smokes cigarettes in the group though a few will buy the cigars allotted for import through U.S. customs - another change since last trip when you could not bring even a single one into the U.S.)

and just so you aren't in suspense for weeks - here is the guy they went to - a coffee farmer from the Escambray Mountains who is in his mid eighties and isn't planning on stopping his cigar smoking - and who is thrilled to get GOOD cigars rather than what he can afford to buy in the store in the nearby (but not very!) town of Trinidad....

and he is the father of the mystery cowboy from a prior post- LOL - the one with the soviet "N"s on his hat... both  guys were terrific to talk to about coffee planting and harvesting and how the family business worked- but more on that later -

We all had gotten up before 4:30 AM and so were pretty much zombies by the end of our meal.  I can't say what the others did after returning to the hotel, but we went right to sleep! Day two coming up - and highlights include a walk through a few plazas in Old Havana (Habana Vieja) and the opera star seniors from the retirement center... so stay tuned!

adult education

Class number two of my "Insider's View of the Arts in Sarasota" was chock full of information- hundreds of names flashed before us as the instructor tried to put two hours of slides in about an hour and ten minutes.....

we did a quick run through of the founding of the Sarasota arts scene via John Ringling's acquisition of the only Rubens painting cycle outside of Europe and the Ringling Museum was purpose built to house it.  Unfortunately the art museum drew many fewer visitors than the circus museum. John & Mable Ringling brought the arts to Sarasota in the 1920s.  The Sarasota Arts Association was founded in 1926. The Sarasota Opera was founded the same year.

But it was the post war era when it really began to flourish, as an artists colony was started here and then it became several artists colonies and a number of schools offered artists employment and studios were built in several locations. The GI bill funded a number of arts schools and at one point there were 45 arts schools in the area.  A wonderful collection of mid century Sarasota artists is housed at the Van Wezel Center for Performing Arts.  That generation of artists were "work at home" artists and provided art work for the Saturday Evening Post and Life Magazine and many others including advertising art of the era.

some of the artists- Syd Solomon and Helen Sawyer and Hilton Leech are represented in the Van Wezel's collection- here are a few works- (in the order above)

one of the artists colonies was located in the Hillview section of Sarasota (behind Morton's market) and it is there the famous Round Studio is located- it has been the residence/studio of successive artists since it was built. On Riverwood, near Riverview High, it was built in 1960 by Hilton Leech, one of the town’s famous old Bohemian painters, for use as a studio and place to give art classes. The architect was Jack West, from the Sarasota School. Yes, it is completely round. You have to be a math major to figure out the square footage, but it’s around 2,500.

There is a Sarasota School of Architecture with eight or so major names of those who designed mid century modern with walls of glass and flat roofs and jalousie windows and louvers for shade...

here is some info on them from wikipedia-
Sarasota Modern, is a regional style of post-war architecture that emerged on Florida's Central West Coast. Many of the architects who pioneered this style became world renowned later in their careers, and several significant buildings remain in Sarasota, Florida today.  Sarasota School of Architecture is characterized by its attention to climate and terrain. Large sunshades, innovative ventilation systems, over sized sliding glass doors, floating staircases, and walls of jalousie windows dominate many of these buildings, mostly built between 1941 and 1966.

Syd Solomon arrived from NYC in 1946 and did lots of networking between the Sarasota (SRQ) artists and NYC galleries and museums.  Many artists currently living and working in the area are second or third generation artists from the earliest days of the arts scene here.

Martha Hartman and Beth Arthur were among the women artists who felt excluded by the male dominated scene and so they formed their own society "the Petticoat Painters" limited to twenty painters- in order to be admitted someone needs to die to create an opening before a nominee can join after competing to gain a place. s/ART/Q is a local incubator to young artists who need support because studio space is so expensive in the area.

The artists in Sarasota were never starving artists because many worked in the art schools located here- including the (and this isn't a joke) Famous Artists Correspondence School from matchbook covers of years ago... LOL - I know it isn't a joke but I laughed anyway- "can you draw this?" - apparently 90 artists (including Norman Rockwell) worked "at" the school which was founded by local artists Ben Stahl.  here is a wikipedia blurb on some of his background-

Benjamin A. "Ben" Stahl (September 7, 1910 – October 19, 1987) was an American artist, illustrator and author. He showed precocious talent, winning a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago at age twelve. His artwork appeared in the International Watercolor Show at the Art Institute when he was sixteen. He later taught at the Art Institute, as well as at the American Academy of Art, the Art Students League of New York, Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and at various universities.  His work appeared in Women's Home Companion, Cosmopolitan (magazine), American Artist, North Light, Esquire, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, Picture Post, Southwest Art and in some 750 stories in The Saturday Evening Post. He was featured in the 1976 television series Journey into Art with Ben Stahl, 26 half-hour programs consisting of lectures and painting demonstrations by the artist. Stahl was one of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School.

Stahl was co-founder of the largest school in the world, the Famous Artists School, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Offices were located in Westport, CT, Amsterdam, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington DC. It grew to offer classes in photography, writing, cartooning, and reading. Founding and guiding faculty includes such names as: Norman Rockwell, Rod Serling, Al Capp, Rube Goldberg, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Fletcher Martin, Bert Stern, Ben Shan, and 57 other top names. (from Dabbert Galleries bio info)

Ben Stahl was also the subject of the second biggest art heist of the 1960s- when his stations of the cross - fifteen (6' by 9') paintings were stolen from a purpose built Museum of the Cross. This is still an open case...  In 1965 Stahl opened the Museum of the Cross in Sarasota, Florida, to house a second, much larger set of The 15 Stations of the Cross, each measuring 6 x 9 feet. In April of 1969 all 15 painting were stolen. The second largest art theft of the decade, with the value being assessed at over $1.5 million.

So today was our last classroom session- from now on we meet at various locations around town and here is the remainder of our schedule- 

week 3- Sarasota Orchestra Holly Hall  and the Arts Center of Sarasota

week 4- Ringling College of Art & Design including Selby Gallery exhibit and animation studios

week 5-Van Wezel Collection and backstage facility tour

week 6- Sarasota Ballet backstage and rehearsal 

week 7- Palm Avenue art galleries tour 

week 8- Circus Arts Conservatory tour and lecture with director

by the end of the class I should have a broader understanding of the wealth of cultural options available in our winter home town!... and coming this weekend- Forks & Corks-

on we go

today is our art day. we walk across the park to the UNEAC (union of artists and writers) and hear a lecture about what they do and how the organization works. they have a direct line (on some subjects) to the government and after much discussion they were able to get the law banning Cubans from tourist facilities overturned. However this apparently only goes so far as later we learn that our Cuban guide Mirelys cannot come into the paladars with us - she must keep to the state owned restaurants. 

After the lecture we go to various studios around the area where the artists work and sometimes live.

here are some photos of the morning:

My thoughts on the morning revolve around the incredible fact that while think of artists as having the capability of being subversive and crossing boundaries in order to create thoughtful and meaningful dialogue these folks still seem pretty much in the party line- the ubiquitous Che being exactly that and as far as I could tell with no sense of irony at all.  Later we found artists working at the Ludwig Foundation in Havana who had gotten beyond Che, but here in Cienfuegos much was MOTS (more of the same)-

lunch on our own before we return to the UNEAC stage for children's performances- so I have some local color photos:

outside the hotel-

on the way to the Park Jose Marti-

the Park Jose Marti-

buildings across the park-

the local Malecon here in Cienfuegos-

Jennifer with lunch batidos (mango!) and a close up of a daiquiri and a shot of the pool - where we had these lovely mid-day libations...

after lunch the kids performances- they made up in enthusiasm for any lacking of capabilities with musical or dancing talent- LOL

 

this little chicken got all the starring parts - having us wonder whose kid she was????? LOL

back to the hotel for a short rest and then dinner at the hotel before yet another performance at UNEAC of a son group that was founded in 1926! Jennifer danced (to the endless amusement of the Cuban ladies seated in the front rows for the performance. LOL)

dinner - a Cuban paella dish-

another walk across the park back to UNEAC -

the bar at UNEAC - ready to serve lubrication for dancing -

the band - with Leo as translator for the introductions of the members-

 

and on the way home with part of the group we ran into the ones who refused to go - LOL drinking and smoking in a local establishment near the hotel...

an interesting day of art and artists - musicians, singers and dancers - young and old... in lovely Cienfuegos!