10 Years of The Cuban Arts Group: Voices from Artists, Curators, and Collaborators

Testimony by Gabriela Azcuy

The following text is a transcript of the video located at the end of this page.

Hi everyone, I’m Gaby Azcuy, Chief Curator of The Cuban Arts Group. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, I want to share, from my own experience, the work this organization has done to support and promote Cuban art and artists over the past decade.

The Cuban Arts Group was born from the tireless philanthropic spirit of Susie and Mitchell Rice. What began as their personal Cuban art collection soon grew into a deep, ongoing relationship with Cuban culture and its artists. As their collection expanded, so did their commitment to sharing the creativity, talent, and stories of Cuban artists with broader audiences.

This passion evolved into a larger mission — one that took shape in 2015, a decade ago, with the founding of The Cuban Arts Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Cuban art and artists throughout the United States and around the world.

Over these ten years, we’ve collaborated with museums, universities, and art centers to present exhibitions, panels, and publications that bring Cuban voices to wider audiences.

We’ve also supported emerging artists and curators, independent publications, and alternative spaces, often with a strong focus on the Cuban diaspora.

Every project has been meaningful—whether produced and curated entirely by our team or developed in collaboration with others. And beyond the art itself, there’s so much that happens behind the scenes — from logistical coordination to connecting artists, spaces, and people. All of that has been meaningful and fundamental as well.

On a personal level, The Cuban Arts Group, and my direct and ongoing work with the Rice Family, has been an extraordinary school for me — and also an extraordinary professional platform.

I’ve enjoyed every challenge of cultural management: from transporting the seven monumental sculptures of Goodbye My Love from Havana to Tampa in the middle of a hurricane, to moving Hybrid of a Chrysler from Tampa to Venice during a port strike — and figuring out how to get a vintage car through the canals and narrow medieval streets of Venice!

I’ve taken great satisfaction in the editorial and publishing work on books like A Provocation to Fly and Under the Spell of the Palm Tree, as well as the deeply rewarding curatorial collaborations with institutions such as the Harn Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art.

Preparing Under the Spell for its U.S. museum tour, conducting research on Cuban art, reviewing projects, and giving talks — all of this has made The Cuban Arts Group a platform that brings me immense professional and personal satisfaction.

I have to emphasize how deeply rewarding it is to know that every action we take in our daily work helps to promote Cuban culture (my culture) and support Cuban artists and colleagues.

I’m so proud to be part of this journey and to see how much we’ve accomplished in ten years.

Gracias, thank you to my colleagues, to the Rice Family, and to everyone who has believed in our mission and helped make it possible.

And here’s to the next decade of collaboration, inspiration, and Cuban art!