This collection features an array of scrapbooks, many of which are homemade, from the 19th and 20th centuries. Subjects covered in these scrapbooks include fashion, advertising, history, Robert Louis Stevenson, Pat Cannon's congressional run, garden clubs, cruises, and more. These scrapbooks are comprised of portraits, photographs, postcards, newspaper clippings, programs, brochures, maps, drawings, telegrams, and more. Some of the creators are unknowns or names without renown, but these scrapbooks highlight their personal tastes and interests, offering some unique insight into their lives.
“In his adopted home of South Florida he imaged a cuisine that would wed the raw and rustic powers of the diverse immigrant cultures that comprise the population there to the classic techniques of gastronomy that have survived the test of time and trends. The revolution for a new style of cooking was born and Norman christened it a 'New World Cuisine.'” - Norman Van Aken, Correspondence, 1993 December 2.
A 2016 MenuMasters Hall of Fame Inductee, noted restauranteur, and the first chef to use the term "fusion cuisine" in its modern definition, Norman Van Aken (1951- ) is a celebrity chef primarily known for his "New World" fusion cuisine. Drawing from the flavors and culinary traditions of Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Asia, and Africa, his impact on the culinary arts has been internationally recognized since the start of his career. His culinary influences on Florida's own local cuisine and restaurant culture are still observable to this day, especially to those who dine nightly at his Orlando restaurant.
This collection serves as a meaningful look into his career as a chef and culinary expert, and his personal life as a man with a deep interest in his family's past and present. The Norman Van Aken papers include documents, correspondence, photographs, manuscript drafts, menus, ephemera, recipes, and more, which showcase the personal life and professional career of one of South Florida's most celebrated chefs. Researchers with an interest in gastronomy, the history of South Florida's restaurant and food culture during the 1990s-2000s, or interpersonal relationships between celebrity chefs, may find this collection useful in their studies.
This collection contains manuscripts, poems, journals, printouts from online chapbooks and collaborations, reviews, clippings, promotional posters and fliers, audiovisual materials, and other writings by the well-renowned and award-winning poet and writer Michael Hettich (1953-).
This collection contains typed manuscripts, drafts, poems, periodicals, publications, correspondence, news clippings, photographs, slides, negatives, VHS tapes, audiocassette tapes, CDs and other archival materials from the local South Floridian poet, Jeffrey Knapp (1949-2011). Also included in the collection are photographs and research materials on the South Floridian artist, Betti Bernay (also known as Betty Godlfarb; 1926-2010).
enFAMILIA, Inc., the organization behind Art in Action, was created to provide Art education and Educational programs to help improve and preserve family life. Since its incorporation in 2000, enFAMILIA has worked in collaboration with forty-two (42) groups that include faith-based organizations, social service agencies, academic and art institutions. These partnerships have allowed enFAMILIA to provide over 240 school children with art education annually, as well as 1,500 adults with marriage and family education training.
Professional artists who have graduated or are attending universities throughout the United States such as, Juilliard, University of Miami, and New York University, among others, come to Homestead for two months in the summer and volunteer as teachers for the Art in Action summer camp. The camp is intended to recognize and foster local young talented children by opening up opportunities for their future, providing avenues of self-expression, and stimulating thoughts about issues of social impact. The Camp encompasses a diverse and intense curriculum of Music, Dance, Poetry, Visual Arts, Drama, Film and Photography.
The collection includes oral histories from Directors and Founders of local community organizations, students in the Arts in Action program, as well as immigrants to South Florida.
