22942: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-HAITIAN ART PARTY (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted August 9, 2004

HAITIAN ART PARTY

Another successful night for Haitian culture and art with a fund-raising
artist's reception Friday at the Galerie d'Art Nader in Coral Gables where
guests got to sample Prestige Haitian beer -- famous in Haiti -- along with
wine and cheese. Guests joined together in their financial support for the
Haitian Heritage Museum, a project in the works for Little Haiti.

Gallery co-owners Myriam and John Nader hosted a crowd of over 100 guests at
the reception, which showcased an exhibit and sale by Haitian artists Sophia
Lacroix and Florence Arboite, other noted Haitian contemporary artists and a
few of Haiti's old masters, with proceeds going to the Haitian Heritage
Museum fundraising campaign.

Arboite lives in Haiti and uses a mix of abstract figures in her paintings.
She also creates vases of all sizes, cachepots decorated with found objects
and hand-painted jewelry boxes of ceramic and wood.

Miami resident Lacroix's paintings are of a realistic nature, featuring
Haitian people and landscapes.

HELPING MUSEUM

This artist's reception is one of many that are leading up to the first
annual gala for the museum, scheduled for Oct. 23 at the Museum of
Contemporary Art in North Miami. Galerie d'Art Nader will have an exhibit
and auction that night and announce the winner of a local Haitian art
contest. Groundbreaking for the museum is set for 2007.

The Haitian Heritage Museum is committed to highlighting and preserving
Haiti's rich culture and will provide a place to enjoy Haitian films, art,
artifacts and music.

The museum is intended to provide a cultural Mecca in Little Haiti where the
community and tourists alike can learn about the contributors to Haitian
culture, and to create a legacy for future generations of Haitians and
Haitian Americans.

Among the art lovers and supporters there were collector Rafael Perez;
Eveline Pierre, president and CEO of the Haitian Heritage Museum; Serge
Rodrigue, vice president of HHM; collectors Dashka and Stephane Timothée;
collector Willis Clayton; Samantha Jacob; and Fred Thomas. Haitian-American
saxophone player, 17-year-old Fitz Gerald Thomas, impressed and entertained
the crowd all night with his smooth jazz sounds.


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Tropical Nights is a weekly chronicle of South Florida society.

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