LAKESIDE CHAUTAUQUA - Mixed media art, paintings, drawings and photography depicting everyday life for Cubans and the country's turbulent relationship with communism, the U.S. embargo and other topics are all on display this week at Hoover Auditorium within the gates of Lakeside.
On Monday afternoon, art consultant Michael Reese, of Reese Brothers Productions in Columbus, talked to a group of about 20 people at Hoover Auditorium about his experiences visiting Cuba and the art he purchased from professional artists and is loaning to display at the Hoover.
Reese is a graduate of Ohio University in interior design and has traveled extensively through Europe, the former USSR, Ukraine and Cuba exploring culture and art.
Over the past two years, Reese has traveled to Cuba eight times, gaining an understanding for today's Cuba and building an extensive art collection.
He and Ruthie Newcomer hosted RM Travel Group, through a license through the U.S. Department of the Treasury, they lead travelers to Cuba for art-related cultural trips.
Reese talked about the struggles students have getting basic supplies for their art programs, such as guitar strings, saxophone reeds and colored pencils.
If a ship stops in a port in Cuba, it cannot go to an U.S. port for six months. It makes it very difficult to get anything there, since companies don't want to have to wait to go to America, Reese said.
Reese had a table set up next to the art, where visitors can donate money to purchase small supplies for him to take with him when he goes back in November.
Some pieces are political, depicting Fidel Castro and other regime leaders as wolves in sheep's clothing or the struggles that have come with the Soviet Union's collapse and its effects on Cuba.
Others show the culture of the country's public transportation system, with passengers tightly packed onto old buses with no windows and frenzied faces peering outside.
Artists featured in Reese's collection include Yamilys Brito, Cesar Leal Jimenez, Juan Carlos Vazquez Lima and Abel Barroso. Photographer Josh Snowden's depiction of everyday life in Cuba are also on display, as well as photographs of former Cuban leaders extravagant homes which are now used for state programs.
Reese said his trips are a way to bridge a cultural divide between Americans and Cubans, many and of whom were told the U.S. and its embargo caused the country's troubles.
"They're a very intelligent people, they're very curious about us because they've never had access to much," Reese said.
Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, the McDonald's golden arches logo and other American pop culture influences appear on pieces, many of which are banned in Cuba.
Bringing back and displaying art from Cubans and seeing their world through their eyes, then starting a conversation about it can help bridge the divide, he said.
Helping the children of Cuba express their artistic desires and talents is also key, Reese said. He said he and leaders in Columbus have formed a group to create a cultural exchange program between the two countries, helping to get supplies to the budding artists.
The art will be on display for all Lakesiders as well those who purchase a Chautauqua Pass each evening for 30 minutes before the nightly programs at the Hoover Auditorium.