Umbrellas of Little Havana - Expo Opened Dec 2013



By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com
Little Havana is welcoming Art Basel with — colorful umbrellas.
Thirty-six, 6-foot-high umbrellas hand painted by local artists will be on display and on sale from Thursday through Sunday along Calle Ocho between Southwest 13th and 17 avenues.
The umbrellas are a way to attract the Art Basel crowd to Little Havana, which has a small but thriving art district, said curator Pati Vargas. 

“We have 24 art galleries in this area and we hope collector visit us,” said Vargas, head of Viernes Culturales, a monthly street festival in Little Havana. Vargas said all the artists purchased the same umbrella but decorated it with their unique art work.

The umbrellas sell anywhere from $800 to $1,600. Among the artist who painted an umbrella was local Spanish-language radio personality Ninoska Perez Castellon, who specializes in paintings of traditional Cuban women and the island’s patron saint, La Caridad del Cobre.

The event is a first in Little Havana. Vargas said they hope it will become a local tradition.
For more information about the umbrella exhibit, call Pati Vargas at 305-972-5774.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/03/3794953/little-havana-welcomes-art-basel.html#storylink=cpy