Diaspora Vibe 2.0, 16th Annual Caribbean Crossroads

The Southampton Cultural Center,
Levitas Center for the Arts 
25 Pond Lane • Southampton, NY
Gallery Hours:  Mon – Sat, 12 – 4 pm, and by appointment

Artist Talk - Rosa Naday Garmendia
“From Cuba to Haiti to Southampton”
Sat Aug 18, 2012
                      1:00 pm
                      Wine & cheese

Rosa Naday Garmendia’s art interest began early, her talent becoming quickly evident. She won many local and statewide awards, including the Prestigious Scholastic Art Award, founded in 1923; it is the longest-running assessment and recognition program for the visual arts among students’ grades 7-12 in the U.S. She pursued her career studying at various colleges and institutes, receiving full scholarships from Parsons School of Design, in New York, the Vermont School of Design and the Fort Lauderdale Art Institute. She earned her degree in Fine Arts from the University of Miami in 1982 where she received a full scholarship. While pursuing her MFA at University of South Florida, Rosa took a sharp turn from the creative process, postponing formal education. From 1988 – 2000 she worked and traveled extensively, held various industrial jobs; meatpacking and auto worker in Detroit, a print shop in Manhattan, collected signatures to place candidates on the ballot in Birmingham, and as a baggage handler while studying Haitian Creole in Miami. During this time she also traveled extensively in Europe, Central America and the Caribbean learning about different cultures but most importantly, her own. These diverse experiences broadened her horizons, having tremendous impact on her creativity.

For the past 12 years Ms. Garmendia has been a working artist and teacher engaging children and adults in the experience of art. As a teaching artist, she has taught privately, in afterschool art programs, and at the Miami Art Museum. She was an artist-in-residence at the Miami Children’s Museum, for two consecutive terms and since 2009 an artist-in residency at Art Center/South Florida.

Recently she’s been perusing her interest in the role of art and how it can effect social change in today’s world. She recently accepted the opportunity to participate in INTER-NOS, X Mural Painting International Biennale in Santiago de Cuba where the city became “an open gallery” for its citizens and international visitors.