Visual Arts
Mitchell Kaplan: A Man for All Seasons
Introduction to Mitchell Kaplan. 1:46 min. Music: Carmen Cicero. Photo & design: Raymond Elman. Everybody who reads books in the Miami area knows that Mitchell Kaplan is the highly successful founder of the independent bookstore group, Books & Books, and co-founder of the Miami Book Fair, the largest book fair in the United States. A while back, Inspicio published a written interview with Kaplan, focused on Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair, both of which are over 30 years old. What is less well-known is that...
read moreDennis Scholl: Making a Difference
Introduction to Dennis Scholl. 2:26 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. In 2017, seasoned arts executive and entrepreneur Dennis Scholl became the President and CEO of ArtCenter/South Florida. Scholl, a change agent known for his ability to scale cultural efforts and enterprises, will focus on creating a holistic environment for Miami’s artists. In the spring of 1984, ArtCenter celebrated its grand opening on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach as an organization addressing visual artists’ workspace and community needs. With Community...
read moreKhalilah Ali, a Remarkable Journey
Introduction to Khalilah Ali. 1:31 min. Photo & design: Raymond Elman. In the Spring of 2018, photographer Robert Zuckerman introduced me to Khalilah Ali, the first wife (1967-77) of Muhammad Ali. Born Belinda Boyd (1950), Khalilah Ali was raised in Chicago where she attended Islamic schools. Her parents were members of the Nation of Islam. Boyd married Muhammad Ali on August 18, 1967, at the age of 17. After their marriage, she changed her name to Khalilah Ali. When Ali’s avoidance of the military draft during the...
read moreXavier Cortada Blends Art & Science
Introduction to Xavier Cortada. 2:13 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Xavier Cortada (b.1964) grew up in Miami and holds a degree from the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences (Bachelor of Arts,1986), the Miami Business School (Master of Public Administration, 1991) and School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1991). His science art practice is oriented toward social engagement and the environment. He has created art installations in the Earth’s poles to generate awareness about global climate change. In 2007, as a National...
read moreFrom the Midwest to Miami: The Artistic Journey of Tom Seghi
Driving through miles of open fields from his hometown of Chicago to DeKalb, Illinois, Tom Seghi was mesmerized by the stark beauty and rich tones of the landscape before him. The first in his family to attend college, Seghi was on his way to Northern Illinois University (NIU), where he would discover his passion for translating the Midwestern landscape onto canvas. Originally intending to study architecture, Seghi changed his career path to become an art educator and painter. During his graduate studies at the Art Institute (AIC),...
read morePhilip Levine: Art, Climate Change, Immigration, & Politics
Introduction to Philip Levine. 1:09 min. Photo: Raymond Elman. Philip Levine (b. 1962) is an American businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Miami Beach from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, he is a candidate for the Florida governorship. Philip Levine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to South Florida at the age of 10. He attended Attucks Middle School and Hollywood Hills High School in Hollywood, Florida. Levine is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science. In 2015,...
read moreFredric Snitzer: Dean of Miami Art Dealers
Introduction to Fredric Snitzer. 1:43 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Fredric Snitzer was born in Philadelphia in 1950, where he attended Fleischer Art Memorial as a child, and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) as a sculptor. He later earned an MFA degree from Penn State University. Snitzer eventually migrated to the Miami area, where his brother was finishing his neurosurgery residency. In 1977, Snitzer opened his first gallery on Biltmore Way in Coral Gables, followed by...
read moreElizabeth Gelman: Keeping the Candles Lit
Introduction to Elizabeth Gelman. 3:15 min. Photo: Lee Skye. Elizabeth Gelman was named Executive Director of The Florida Holocaust Museum in January, 2013. A newcomer to the Tampa Bay area, she has held leadership positions in several Chicago nonprofits including Spertus Museum, The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, and Terra Museum of American Art. Elizabeth received her MS in Written Communication and Certificate in Corporate Written Communication from National Louis University, a BS in Speech and Communication from Northwestern...
read moreA Conversation with Artist Mario Pérez
Introduction to artist Mario Pérez . 1:55 min. Mario Pérez was born in San Juan, Argentina in 1960. The second of seven children, and the son of a housepainter, he obtained a degree in visual arts at Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Although, he is a draughtsman and a painter, he is also interested in interdisciplinary artistic expressions. In 2003, Pérez was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. He also had the honor of being part of the National Exhibition “200 Years-200 Masters of Argentinean Art,” commemorating the...
read moreArtists’ Mothers by Alex Rocky Ferrer
Shortly after Labor Day in 1970, I moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts on the northern tip of Cape Cod, the first North American landing place of the Pilgrims (1620), in search of beauty, solitude, and a cheap place to live while I figured out my life as an artist making large-scale abstract paintings. I was so uninformed, that I didn’t know that the Outer Cape Cod towns of Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet comprised a famous productive art colony, where artists and writers such as Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline,...
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