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Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) is an organization that promotes emerging artists from the Caribbean and Latin America (and their diasporas) by providing multilayered programming and infrastructure to support artistic practice. DVCAI was originally called Diaspora Vibe Gallery when it was founded in 1996 by Jamaican-born resident of Miami, Rosie Gordan-Wallace, who is also the current Executive Director. In 2003, DVG became officially recognized as a registered non-profit charity and henceforth became DVCAI, receiving support from the Miami–Dade Department of Cultural Affairs the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, the Miami–Dade County Board of County Commissioners, as well as from private donors. Gordan-Wallace aspired to form the organization in response to a community need to nurture and increase the visibility of African-American, Caribbean, and Latino emerging artists – specifically in a hemispheric, diasporic city such as Miami where minority groups are often segregated by way of race, ethnicity, class, and language. While the landscape of Miami’s racial and ethnic politics were the basis for DVCAI’s formation, Gordan-Wallace’s experiences as an aspiring artist in Jamaica with limited artistic role models also spurred her desire to create a resource for future generations; she says, “I am an artist who creates and curates work using the opportunity to nurture, expose and promote Caribbean artists in the diaspora and in the Caribbean. This is a strategic platform. It enables and empowers visual and performing artists, spaces to deliver professional works of art. This action offers Caribbean artists examples of artworks, that I was previously not afforded as a young person growing up” (VoyageMIA).

In the last two decades DVCAI has provided support to thousands of artists - in particular to over 1500 artists from the African diaspora. In excess of dedicated workspace and funding, DVCAI offers its sponsored artists the freedom to explore their artistic expression without the need to conform to preconceived notions of what high art should be. Alongside their own practice, DVCAI creates a community for multiple artists, curators, cultural critics and writers to connect and exchange ideas and also bring together culturally diverse audiences and collectors to support the work. Gordan-Wallace’s vision from the start was that DVCAI would foster such a community because the formation of Caribbean art as an emerging canon has often relied on external support; she states, “There is still a reliance on validation from ‘outside’ and the usual hotspots that deliver the same few names of ‘Diasporic’ representation” (VoyageMIA).

DVCAI first began in white box spaces and is currently housed in virtual real estate; however, the organization has exhibited artists’ work in both national and international spaces such as the Birmingham Alabama Space One Eleven Space; The Moengo Art Festival in Suriname; the Carifesta Festival in Haiti; the Jamaica Biennial; and the Havana Biennial. They have also partnered with more local organizations such as the Bakehouse Art Complex; Miami Light Project; Miami Art Museum (PAMM); the Black Archives; The Bass Museum; Funding Arts Network; Miami-Dade County; Design and Architecture Senior High School; Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance; and the Broward Library, as well as the Andy Warhol Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Knight Foundation, and the State of Florida. DVCAI also operates an international exchange program with graduates from Edna Manley College in Jamaica. In addition to DVCAI’s archives housed in University of Miami’s Special Collections, DVCAI was awarded an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to digitize the collection in partnership with Florida International University’s Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). The digitization process will increase access to the DVCAI archive by making it openly available despite potential budgetary restraints, which is of particular importance to non-North American institutions.

• Laura Bass
  UGrow fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2019-2020

(1) VoyageMIA and Rosie Gordan-Wallace. “Meet Rosie Gordan-Wallace.” 23 Aug. 2018, http://voyagemia.com/interview/meet-rosie-gordon-wallace/.

Anna “Connie” Veltfort was born in 1945 in Germany. She is a writer and illustrator living in New York City. Most of her childhood in the 1950’s was spent in the United States, but she was brought to Cuba in 1962 at the will of her stepfather, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, who aligned himself with the ideals of the Cuban Revolution. She lived in Cuba for a decade, even attending the University of Havana and performing agricultural labor alongside her university classmates, as well as participating in a university research project in the Sierra Maestra where she headed a traveling puppet troupe for the benefit of the children of the Sierra. She came to live in Cuba at a critical moment in its history: the ultimate betrayal of the Castro regime as it strengthened its authoritarian grasp on the people, aligned with the Soviet Union, and entered the world stage at the height of the Cold War. Her time in Cuba came to profoundly shape her identity. Before she moved to Cuba, she visited her mother’s family in Hamburg in 1961 at age 16. While she was there, sent by her uncle, she visited the Berlin Wall as it was being built, adding to her complex experience of the effects of the Communist government in the 1960’s. Veltfort graduated in 1972 from the University of Havana with a degree in Art History. Her thesis focused on the 20th-century avant-garde movement in Russia, particularly an analysis of the works by filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. Veltfort continued her education in the United States at Parsons School of Design; the School of Visual Arts, studying graphic design and illustration; and at New York University where she studied web design. She has done extensive work in electronic and traditional illustration, creating designs that include all ages and ethnicities. Her work has appeared in a variety of formats including dozens of books, many editorials, advertisements, and electronic media as well as in games, posters, Gameboy storyboards, background for animations, and even a t-shirt design for the New York City Branch of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. She was an illustrator for the video game “Christina Aguilera: Follow Your Dreams,” released in 2000, and created illustrations that appear in the CD-ROM game “Mary Kate and Ashley’s Dance Party of the Century,” released in 1999. She creates “realia,” which are simulated media found in educational materials and on websites. She directed two editions of Spectrum, which is a series of twelve educational books from the publishing house Simon and Schuster/Pearson Education. Additionally, she has created designs for advertisements for Post Cereals, Children’s Television Workshop, Sports Illustrated Kids, the electronic game creators Hyperspace Cowgirls, Houghton Mifflin, Pearson, Harcourt Brace, Oxford University Press, and Green Mansion Press.

In 2017, Veltfort’s autobiographical graphic novel, Adiós mi Habana, was published by Editorial Verbum in Spain, and in 2019 Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a Gringa in Revolutionary Cuba, was published by Stanford University Press to critical acclaim. The coming-of-age narrative is centered on 16-year-old Connie Veltfort, who fled to the U.S. from postwar Germany with her mother, Lenore. She, her mother, and American stepfather Ted then relocated to Cuba for a decade, attending high school and university, and where she witnessed the political upheaval and the Cuban missile Crisis in 1962. The novel also importantly tells the story of homophobia and violence against LGBTQ youth in Cuba during the 1960s, where she and others in her community had to conceal their identities. In 1967, Veltfort and her girlfriend were assaulted in Havana on the Malecón, after being identified as lesbians. Through Connie’s eyes, readers see the hypocrisy of the revolutionary spirit and freedom peddled by the new regime on full display. Connie, like many others, is deeply disillusioned by the place she thought to be a potential utopia. Lorissa Rinehart in a review of the book, writes: “In Goodbye, My Havana, the Cuban revolution’s prescribed limits of freedom are most evident in the relegation of women and LGBTQ individuals to the periphery, where their rights quickly erode and their personhood is more easily dismissed.” When asked about what she wishes readers take away from the graphic novel, Veltfort replies: “That Cuba is a heartbreakingly beautiful country, with a rich culture, and a history much more complicated than any tourist or casual academic can see or imagine. That homophobia, an outsized thread in the fabric of Cuban life, was there right from the beginning of the Revolution and it tragically affected the generations that came into the Revolution in 1959, lived through the 1960s and 70s and beyond.” In the same interview with Stanford University Press, Veltfort cites some of her main influences as an illustrator, “Little Nemo” newspaper comic strips by Winsor McCay; the work of Joost Swarte, Dutch graphic artist; and the Pogo books by Walt Kelly. She also noted that her use of color is based on a sense of place and internal situation. For example, she notes that “Cuba is a land of intense color, impossible for me to imagine in anything but full color. I also set out to use color as a visual stand-in for music and sometimes emotions.” Veltfort plans to write another graphic novella in the future about visiting her mother’s family in Germany in 1961.

Bio supplied by H.T. Smith:

H.T. Smith’s passion for a cause and effective advocacy skills were evidenced early on when he persuaded the University of Miami School of Law to admit him before even taking the Law School Admission Test. His argument: that it was unfair to punish him for not being able to take a test that was not administered in the jungles of Vietnam, while he fought for his country.

His legal career blazed new trails from the start - - as Miami-Dade County's first African-American assistant public defender, and as the County's first African-American assistant county attorney. He was a partner in the first African American law firm to practice law in downtown Miami.

Born Harold Teliaferro Smith, Jr. to Mary Cope Smith and Harold T. Smith, Sr. He was born in the Christian Hospital – the hospital for colored Miamians. As a child he played on a street called “bucket of blood” – and it earned that nickname. From kindergarten through 12th grade, H. T. was forced by law to attend segregated schools, with second-hand facilities, second-hand equipment and hand me down books. Only historically Black and tradition rich Florida A&M University accepted him. There he earned a major in Mathematics and was commission a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.

H.T. served 400 days as a leader of men in the jungles of Vietnam and upon returning home he entered the University of Miami School of Law. For the past 49 years, H.T. has practiced as a trial lawyer in Miami, specializing in civil rights, personal injury, and criminal defense. He was voted Top Trial Lawyer of 2017 by the Dade County Bar Association, and the National Law Journal recognized him as one of the top 10 trial lawyers of the year in America. He has been inducted into the “Legal Legends” of Miami-Dade County, and he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

H.T. was one of the lead attorneys in the successful legal challenge to Ward Connelly’s effort to pass a Constitutional Amendment in Florida outlawing affirmative action in public education, public employment, and public contracting. In his argument to the Florida Supreme Court, H.T. described Connelly’s so-called “Civil Rights Initiative” as a “cruel hoax” on the people of Florida.

H. T. was the founding President of the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association, and a founding member of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association. He also served as President of the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, and the National Bar Association – which is the oldest and largest bar association for people of color.

He led the South Florida Coalition for a Free South Africa (a branch of the international Free South Africa Movement) from 1984 until Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990. This direct-action campaign resulted in governmental agencies and colleges divesting from companies doing business in or with apartheid South Africa, boycotting clothing and food that was imported from South Africa, and stopping the sale of the krugerands by financial institutions in South Florida.

From 1990-1993, H.T. was a co-spokesperson for the highly successful Boycott Miami Campaign which was organized after local politicians snubbed the legendary Nelson Mandela during his historic visit to Miami. The tourism boycott lasted 1,000 days – costing Miami’s tourism industry in excess of $110 million. The boycott settlement resulted in significant economic and educational opportunities for African Americans, including the development of the first Black-owned convention-quality hotel in the United States–on the ocean, in Miami Beach.

H.T.s also served with James K. Batten, CEO of Knight Ridder Newspapers, as co- Chairman of the Coalition for Progress which was an organization established to establish, implement and execute on the programs, policies and goals agreed upon to end the boycott.

In 1995, H.T. along with two partners, led the ambitious effort to raise $5 million dollars to build the 27,000 square foot NFL Youth Education Town (YET) Center at Gwen Cherry Park in the Scott Carver Projects. This NFL YET Center provides computer training, homework assistance, educational programs, arts and crafts, health, nutrition and fitness courses, a nature park with a zip line, a state-of-the-art synthetic athletic field to play football, soccer and lacrosse, and all types of sporting activities for hundreds of kids daily.

In 2003, H.T. was tapped to become the Inaugural Director of Florida International University College of Law’s Trial Advocacy Program. The student body presented him with the “Pioneer Award” for his innovative excellence as a legal educator, and the University honored him with its prestigious “Top Scholar Award”. His trial teams have won state, regional and national Mock Trial competitions involving civil and criminal cases.

H.T. also joined the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami in 2004 where he has served as Vice-Chairman of the Board; and as Chairman of the Student Affairs, Membership and Governance Committees.

H.T. has received numerous honors for almost five decades of service to his community, profession and country. The following have been named in his honor – the Harold Long Jr. and H.T. Smith Student Assessment Building at the University of Miami; the H.T. Smith Black Law Student’s Association, established at FIU College of Law; the H.T. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest award of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce; the H.T. Smith Fellowship, established by the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches; the H. T. Smith Scholarship established by the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association; the H.T. Smith Legal Studies Scholarship, established by the law firm of Kluger Kaplan; the H.T. Smith Fellowship, established by Legal Services of Greater Miami; and the H.T. Smith Achievement Award, established by INROADS/Miami.

He has received numerous awards. A few of them include the David W. Dyer Professionalism and Icon Awards from the Dade County Bar Association; the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame induction; the Charles Whited Spirit of Excellence Award from the Miami Herald; the Silver Medallion Award from the Miami Conference of Christians and Jews.

H.T. has devoted his entire legal career to “agitating for justice”. In a letter to the National Bar Association, South African President Nelson Mandela wrote: “We join your members in paying special tribute to your retiring President, H.T. Smith, whose name became well-known for his consistent and courageous contribution and support for the struggle of our people against apartheid. We wish H.T., well, we are confident that wherever injustice and racism raise their ugly heads, H.T. will be there to raise his powerful voice of protest and resistance.

Jorge Luis Trelles and Luis Trelles, along with Mari Tere Cabarrocas Trelles, Jorge’s wife, started Trelles Cabarrocas Architects in 1986 after graduating from Cornell University. Focusing on urban design and architecture, their work encompasses private residences, gardens, schools, and civic and commercial buildings. The firm has completed built works throughout Southern Florida and the Florida Panhandle. Recent works include the Fine House, a private residence on Elbow Lake in Coral Gables; Ca’ Rosa, the new residence of Jorge and Mari Trelles in Coconut Grove Florida; and Nya Ngyangu, a house and garden at Smuggler’s Cove in Key Biscayne, Florida. Currently in the works are a private residence, a church, and a campus plan along with inner city development projects for metropolitan Miami. In addition to their practice, Luis and Jorge Trelles have taught architecture design studios, drawing, building construction and building systems courses at the University of Miami, were visiting critics at Cornell University and most recently acted as visiting professors at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.