New Initiative to Show the History of Cuba’s Exiles
POSTED BY: FIUSM CONTRIBUTING WRITERS OCTOBER 4, 2017
Alexandra Rodriguez/Contributing Writer
The University will be starting a new initiative named CasaCuba that will encompass all things Cuban.
The University would like to bring their varying Cuban collections into one centralized area for scholars and the public to see. Cubans, Cuban-Americans and non-Cubans will have a place to admire the history of the people and their search for freedom, according to documents provided to Panther Magazine by CasaCuba.
Miami has the greatest connection to Cubans and Cuban-Americans outside of Cuba, President Mark B. Rosenberg said in a press release, and FIU, he said, has the greater expertise on the island.
The Cuban Research Institute, which is a center for public programs and academic research on Cuban and Cuban-American issues, will be the academic backbone of CasaCuba.
George Corton, the associate vice president of development and the fundraiser for the initiative said CasaCuba was created out of a Board of Directors meeting two years ago.
“The law school had just acquired a significant legal collection,” Corton said. “So, it’s almost like you went into a law firm pre-Castro.”
He also said that there are about 16 collections in the Green Library that is managed by Althea “Vicky” Silvera, a librarian at the Green Library. Corton said she doesn’t have the luxury of space, because the collections are housed on the fourth floor.
“The political climate in the U.S. was that President [Barack] Obama had now shifted policy with Cuba,” said Corton.
Corton says to not think of the initiative as a museum, but instead as an academic and cultural hub. And the University, he said, has recently acquired a collection of blueprints from prominent Cuban architects.
FIU currently possesses the Darlene M. and Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection which has Cuban art since the late 1800s, as well as the Diaz Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection with more than 100,000 items and is the most extensive publicly available collection of Cuban music.
CasaCuba will be built near the entrance of 107 Ave. next to the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity house. It will be 50,000 square feet and was designed by a team of FIU students attending CARTA, Corton said.
Agustin Arellano is the chair of construction firm NV2A Group and the board chair. Ray Rodriguez, who is the former president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications is the vice chair.
“CasaCuba’s mission is close to my heart,” Arellano said in the press release. “We want to inspire and educate in an atmosphere that promotes freedom and goodwill.”
Other members include actor and director Andy Garcia and Eduardo Sardiña, the former president and chair executive of Bacardi U.S.A.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has also contributed $200,000 to launch CasaCuba.
“The CasaCuba initiative formalizes what has been true for many years: Cuba is in FIU’s DNA,” Rosenberg said in the press release.
Rendering provided by George Corton, Casa Cuba’s associate vice president of development.
