This Hispanic Heritage Month exhibition Cultura Tallahassee gathers to collectively celebrate Latinx culture and creativity with exhibits at Leon County libraries through Oct. 15.
Cultivating multi-cultural conversations
Ninety miles south of the United State’s most southern point floats an island filled with music and art, encapsulated by the most glistening white sand beaches in the Caribbean.
From the beaches of Varadero and the mountains of Matanza to the bustling city of Havana, Cuba holds a topographical beauty that is only matched by its celebrated culture. Like many Caribbean and South American Latinx countries, Cuba's history is riddled with political complexities and an exile of its people, many of whom were artists.
But their historical loss is our cultural gain. Amidst Cuba’s initial political turmoil in the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted a Hispanic Heritage Week Act, to honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of new Latinx immigrants whose lives and legacies would soon intertwine with those of natural-born Americans. In 1988, President Ronal Regan extended Hispanic Heritage Week into National Hispanic Heritage Month, lasting from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
For this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, Tallahassee artists, along with the Leon County libraries, are delighted to celebrate the Latinx community through the exhibition Cultura Tallahassee: La Belleza de nuestra Herencia. The “herencia” or inheritance shared through these artists includes personal stories and testimonials conveyed/told through their deeply moving artwork.
Guastella con Gusto
For one artist whose work is shown at this year’s Cultura Tallahassee, Sal Guastella, a love of democracy and the freedom to live without constant government control is what he has inherited from this country. Guastella was born in Havana, Cuba in 1950. He and his family immigrated to the United States a mere nine years later, at the dawn of the Cuban revolution in search of political asylum from Castro’s authoritarian regime.
Although Guastella left his majestic homeland behind, the beauties it possessed were never too far away. As a young artist, Guastella immersed himself in comic books and cartoons. He turned to the courageous and innovative works of Walt Disney, Picasso, Red Groom, and Andy Warhol for inspiration. He carried the vibrant colors and entrancing energy of his culture into his early murals and sculptural paintings.
Guastella went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. His pieces combine cardboard, wood, paint, and other materials to create a three-dimensional painting that feels as if it will jump off the canvas. The use of multiple materials in a layering process produces a simultaneous layered experience of emotion by the viewer when witnessing Guastella’s work.
In 1991, Guastella shifted his storytelling medium from painting and culture to language and education. He closed his studio and followed his passion for teaching. This pivot brought him to Tallahassee, a place that combined nature's beauty with political and environmental statements. He received a master's degree in teaching foreign languages from Florida State University (FSU) and for practically two decades, he served as a language teacher at FSU.
Since retiring, Guastellas has returned to his art in full force and a fluid process. “The work most of the time, has a life of its own and it will take me in directions that I have not planned but nevertheless, embrace,” Guastella said. “I enjoy the process of creating as it is the adventure and not the destination.”
Most recently, Guastella joined 26 other artists in Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts’ (MoFA) 2023 summer show, Combined Talents: Southern Futurisms. This exhibition gathered southern artists whose work MoFA believed to be the “future of the south.” Guastella’s pieces "Miami Mambo" and "El Sureño Equivocado/The Mistaken Southerner" were featured.
His use of mixed media, acrylic, ink, and cardboard spoke to his experiences with and hopes for an equally mixed and diverse blend of culture and identity. “I embrace both cultures in giving me the energy to combine my experiences as an immigrant and a citizen,” says Guastella.
“Music, color, food, passion, and a lot of craziness makes me a crazy media noche (cuban sandwich) with a little bit of ketchup.” He is grateful and honored to share his work through Cultura Tallahassee as a means to celebrate his inheritance as a Cuban immigrant whose own blended identity has created complexly compelling art.
Knowledge and Culture
From Frida Kalo’s surrealist self-portraits to the depths of Salvador Dali’s paintings, Latinx painters have always brought radical energy to the art world. And history has shown that it is up to the bearers of knowledge to share such radical work with the rest of the people.
Luckily for Tallahassee, LeRoy Collins Leon County Main Library System is also dedicated to the pursuit and preservation of such knowledge. Throughout the year, Tallahasseee’s libraries serve as hosts to events that elevate the cultural understanding of music, literature, and art for many in the community.
The exhibit Cultura Tallahassee features the artwork of many local artists in the hopes of collectively cheering for the cultures shared by each and every one of the artists.
The works have been on display throughout the Leon County library system since Sept. 14. Through October 14, works will be exhibited at select Leon County library locations.
Engage with the paintings of local Latinx painters like Puerto Reican Panamanian artist Alexia Beavent-Rivera whose multimedia investigates relationships, identity, and the diaspora that continues to affect the people in her homeland and de la Cruz’s ceramics which share her experience as a first-generation Cuban-American. Come share in the joy they bring through their creative culture and unique identities.
If you go
What : Cultura Tallahassee: La Belleza de nuestra Herencia
When : 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14
Where : Bruce J. Host Northeast Branch Library, 5513 Thomasville Road; Dr. B.L. Perry, Jr. Branch Library2817 S Adams St.; Eastside Branch Library, 1583 Pedrick Road; Jane G. Sauls Fort Braden Branch Library,16327 Blountstown Hwy.
Contact : 850-606-2665 | Library_Exhibitions@LeonCountyFL.gov ; visit LeonCountyFL.gov
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Art transports Hispanic culture to Tallahassee libraries
Local News
Comments / 0