The city of Lakeland, Florida, launched its inaugural Fuego Festival, a downtown celebration dedicated to Latin culture, heritage, and the arts. Organized in part by Tony Agnello of Notta Gallery, the event features live music, local vendors, a Cuban cigar lounge, and live painting demonstrations by artists such as William Araujo.
Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East, outlines his vision for the new museum as a collaborative space designed specifically to re-engage young audiences. Highlighting a new commission by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera created with local youth, Casely-Hayford argues that museums must move beyond Victorian-era paternalism toward a model of co-creation. The institution has consulted over 30,000 young people to ensure its galleries, such as the "Why We Make" space, reflect contemporary concerns and community needs.
The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami has unveiled a diverse April program featuring two major exhibitions focused on Afro-Cuban art and identity. "El Pasado Mío / My Own Past" showcases nearly two centuries of Afrodescendant contributions to Cuban art, highlighting 45 artists including a significant group of historically overlooked women, while "Afrocubanismo" draws from the Ramón and Nercys Cernuda Collection to explore the 1930s movement that fused European modernism with Afro-Cuban culture.