John Beltrán was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. He went to Costa Rica in September 1961 as a Cuban exile. He also lived in Nicaragua for a short period of time. In February 1962, he flew to New York where he lived through 1969. From 1969 to 1972, Beltrán was established in Puerto Rico. Finally in 1972, he moved to Miami where he has been living to the present day.
John Beltrán, the collector, was a friend of Olga Guillot and began to collect material related to her since the beginning of Olga's career.
Herman L. Beller (1899-1972) was born in Komonitz Padosky Gobernia, Russia and moved to the United States as an young child. Shortly after his marriage to Jennie Engler, the young couple moved to Cuba for work. Beller began his career in Cuba working on machinery in sugar mills, where he manufactured dies to cast replacement parts for machinery. Deciding to move into the art world, Beller began producing bronze works for the City of Havana and for other commissions with his company, Industrias Unidas de Cuba.
Beller was actively involved in the Cuban-Jewish community and joined the efforts to help German and Austrian refugees seek safety in Cuba during WWII. After the war, Beller returned to New York and continued his work in the metal foundry business. He settled in Florida in the 1950s with his family and died there at age 73 in 1972.
Professor Ross Beiler graduated from Allegheny College in 1937, and completed graduate study at the State University of Iowa in 1950. He taught at Wesleyan University, the University of Vermont, Lawrence College, and joined the University of Miami
government department in 1945. Beiler also acted as consultant to radio station WCKT, providing election predictions and analyses of returns, and also served as a panelist for the Florida Forum.
Beiler's research interests included relations between social aggregates and government in southeast Florida as well as the role of media in politics. Beiler published "Links to Government in
Greater Miami: The Experience of Three Ethnic Aggregates," a study conducted through the university of Miami Urban Studies Center. Beiler also wrote "The Use of Local Facilities in Political Science
Research" published in The Polls and Public Opinions, and several of Beiler's articles appear in journals and other publications.
Roberto Behar has been a Professor in Practice at the University of Miami School of Architecture since 1986. He is a principal founder of R & R Studios, the collaborative office he shares with Rosario Marquardt. R&R Studios is a multidisciplinary practice weaving together visual arts, architecture, design and the city. Behar frequently lectures in the United States, Europe, Israel, and South America, and his work has been published in over 200 publications worldwide. Behar's work has been presented in galleries, museums, and events in America and abroad. Exhibitions venues include solo and group exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Miami Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Madison, Miami International Airport, The Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, the Centre International pour la Ville, I’Architecture, et le Paysage (CIVA) in Brussels and the Institute Francais d’ Architecture in Paris, as well as Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
He was the Director of the Architectural Club of Miami from ADD DATES Cultural Director of the Centro de Arquitectos de Rosario.
Behar has a Diploma of Architecture from the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina, and later studied at The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.
