The Wolfsonian–FIU is all about Cuba this summer! This June, we invite locals to wax nostalgic about the glory days of U.S.-Cuba travel and cultural exchange—the 1920s through the 1950s—through literary, social, cinematic, and hands-on workshop experiences. There’s a little something for everyone: a Book Club discussion of Gustavo Firmat’s The Havana Habit (6/3), The New Tropic’s homage to the legendary Tropicana nightclub (6/3), and the continuation of our Havana Nights film series with the spy satire classic Our Man in Havana (6/19). June also offers a slew of opportunities to bring the family out to The Wolf, with a Dominoes with Abuelos extravaganza (6/11) designed with your grandparents’ generation in mind, and a bilingual Cuban Beats family day (6/4) that will introduce the tots to the magnificent Celia Cruz and teach them how to make their very own maracas or bongos (apologies in advance for the racket…). Plus, with Sketching in the Galleries (6/24) and our regular Free Friday guided tours (weekly on Fridays), there are plenty of chances for guests of all ages and backgrounds to get acquainted with our collection, free of charge.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Friday, June 3 | 7pm
In conjunction with our special exhibition Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction, the Wolfsonian Book Club is digging deeper into the importance of Cuba in the cultural history of the U.S. From the rumba and mambo to cigars and mojitos,Gustavo Firmat’s The Havana Habit (2012) illustrates the allure of Cuban culture to the American imagination.
Free for members and first-time participants // Join or RSVP by emailingbookclub@thewolf.fiu.edu.
Friday, June 3 | 8–11pm
The New Tropic is taking over The Wolfsonian! Celebrate our special exhibitionPromising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction with Cuban music, drinks, and dance—all in a special “paradise under the stars” inspired by Havana’s legendary Tropicana nightclub.
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, June 4 | 10am–noon
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: A Collector’s Eye on Paradise
For members only, this exclusive tour of Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction features collector Vicki Gold Levi, the Manhattan-based donor behind a recent gift of over 1,000 works to The Wolf. In conversation with the exhibition’s curators, Frank Luca and Rosa Lowinger, Vicki will talk about what first gave her the collecting bug—and the love for Cuban cultural history that continues to shape her collection.
Free for members // Join by emailing membership@thewolf.fiu.edu.
Saturday, June 4 | 1–4pm
Discovering Design Free Family Day: Cuban Beats
“¡Azúcar!” Dance to the beat of your own music at The Wolf by reliving the festive spirit of Celia Cruz and learning the transnational origins of salsa. First enjoy a bilingual story time reading of Monica Brown’s My Name is Celia (Me llamo Celia), then let artist Sofia del Rivero of Art Box Miami lead your family in crafting a musical instrument—a pair of maracas or bongos—inspired by our latest exhibition on classic Cuba, Promising Paradise.
Free for children and accompanying adults // RSVP here.
Saturday, June 11 | 1–3pm
Grab the grandparents for an afternoon of intergenerational bonding over one of Cuba’s favorite pastimes—dominoes! Never played before? No worries, we’ll have experienced abuelos on hand to school you in the game. Be sure to pull your grandparents up to our special exhibition Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction and watch them get nostalgic among images of Cuban nightlife and culture from the 1920s through the 1950s.
Free with museum admission // Space provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Sunday, June 19 | 5pm
Havana Nights Film Series: Our Man in Havana
When a British vacuum salesman stationed in Havana is recruited as a spymaster, his fictional reports to the British Secret Service lead to murder, mayhem, and international intrigue! Join us for “episode three” of our summer-long film series presented in partnership with Miami Beach Cinematheque—a movie filmed on location in Cuba just months after Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries took power in 1959. Admission includes entry to a special tour of Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction at The Wolf at 5pm, with the film beginning across the street at the Cinematheque at 6pm.
$11, $9* students and seniors // FREE for MBC and Wolfsonian members
*Optional tour of Promising Paradise at The Wolfsonian is included in the film admission price.
Friday, June 24 | 7pm
Did you know that sketching, drawing, and coloring can reduce stress and spark creativity? Come get your art on at The Wolf! We’ll provide the drawing materials, gallery stools, and professional instruction to participants of all ages and skill levels—you bring the talent. Instruction in English and Spanish.
Free and open to the public // Space is limited; materials provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Weekly on Fridays | 6–6:45pm
Free Friday Evening Guided Tours
Learn more about The Wolfsonian collection and related art and design themes during a 45-minute, free guided tour of the permanent collection or temporary exhibitions.
Free and open to the public.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS
Through August 21
Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction
Ever since Columbus first stepped foot on Cuban soil and called it the “loveliest land that human eyes have ever seen,” visitors have continued to describe and picture Cuba as a paradise. In the first half of the twentieth century, American marketers, mobsters, and developers and Cuban artists, performers, and graphic designers jointly shaped the island’s reputation as a dreamy tropical escape. Publicity campaigns and Hollywood films touted Cuba’s promises of indulgence—rum and cigars, rumba and mambo, and legalized drinking and gambling—all before travel restrictions curbed the two countries’ tourist trade. Through photographs, posters, and promotional ephemera drawn primarily from a gift by Vicki Gold Levi, Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seductionrevisits this past relationship that left lasting traces in both nations. From the Prohibition era of the 1920s through the postwar tourism boom of the 1950s, the exhibition traces how wealthy Americans and celebrities were lured to the exotic nightclubs, casinos, and cabarets of Cuba —creating a flood of tourism, a perception of glamor, and a craze for Latin music and dance in the U.S. #ParaísoCubano
Ongoing
Americans All: Race Relations in Depression-Era Murals
During the 1930s, American artists covered the walls of public buildings all across the country with murals meant to showcase the nation’s ideals and lift the country out of the Great Depression. Here at The Wolfsonian, preparatory painting, drawings, and mosaics for these murals (some ultimately realized, others never executed) reveal how artists reckoned with the nature of the United States as a racially diverse nation, reflecting the contentious and unsettled state of early twentieth-century race relations through their representations of blacks, whites, American Indians, and Asian immigrants—the melting pot of America.
Ongoing
Art and Design in the Modern Age: Selections from The Wolfsonian Collection
These galleries provide an overview of the museum’s holdings of American and European artifacts from the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Culled from The Wolfsonian collection are approximately three hundred works in a variety of formats, ranging from books, posters, and postcards to decorative arts, architectural models, paintings, and sculptures. Focal points include design reform movements, urbanism, industrial design, transportation, world’s fairs, advertising, and political propaganda. The United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are most fully represented in the collection. Art and Design in the Modern Age: Selections from The Wolfsonian Collection examines the ways in which art and design have both influenced and adapted to the modern world. During this period the fine arts were characterized by unprecedented experimentation and innovation. At the same time, design became a critical issue for producers and consumers as machine-made objects replaced those crafted by hand. The works on display demonstrate designers’ responses to the profound social and technological changes stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. They reveal how people living in this tumultuous period viewed the world and their place in it, as industrialization, urbanization, mass production, and new transportation and communication systems revolutionized modern life. By interpreting these artifacts in their historical context, The Wolfsonian aims to elucidate the technological and aesthetic concerns, as well as the social, political, and economic motivations that influenced their production. Inaugurated in November 1996, this ongoing exhibition is periodically updated.
The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. Admission is $7 for adults; $5 for seniors, students, and children age 6–12; and free for Wolfsonian members, State University System of Florida staff and students with ID, and children under six. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 10am–6pm; Friday, 10am–9pm; Sunday, noon–6pm; and is closed on Wednesday. Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit us online at wolfsonian.org for further information.