By Jenny Callison. Enquirer Contributor. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Friday, February 18, 2000
HAMILTON — The works by eight contemporary Cuban painters serve as eloquent ambassadors of the culture that inspired them.
Strong and colorful, the canvases reveal a range of styles and subject matter, from bucolic landscapes to scenes rich with symbolism.
The show, which continues through Sunday in the lobby of the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, was organized and circulated by Dr. Pastor Castillo of Miami, Fla. It came to the Fitton Center through the sponsorship of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Lerer of Fairfield.
"The United States generally has been supportive of cultural exchanges with Cuba," Dr. Lerer said. "President Clinton has liberalized policies with regard to such exchanges."
Dr. Lerer, a Butler County physician, grew up in Cuba but moved to the United States with his family two years after Fidel Castro seized power. He maintains ties with the country through Middletown-based Caring Partners International, which collects donations of medical equipment and
supplies for Cuba and other countries. Dr. Lerer has led traveling health care teams to Cuba in recent years and will return there this spring.
Sales of the displayed paintings will benefit the artists who created them, Dr. Lerer said.
"The average artist in Cuba receives $8-$12 per month from the government, along with government food coupons, which are not adequate for their needs," he said, adding that Caring Partners has agreed in principle to be the broker for at least some of the artwork for sale in the
Cincinnati area.
The painters featured in the Fitton Center show are among 13 Cuban artists represented by Dr. Castillo's sister, Estela Castillo of Pinar del Rio, in Cuba's westernmost province. Ms. Castillo, who describes herself as a cultural promoter, is a retired Spanish professor.
After Dr. Lerer intervened on her behalf, Ms. Castillo secured a one-week U.S. visa and arrived in Cincinnati on Tuesday, bringing additional paintings and prints. She is traveling around the Tristate this week, promoting the artists' work and arranging for their paintings to be shown at
area galleries and other art spaces.
"We are very appreciative of the help (Caring Partners) has given us," she said.
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