Art Out on the Town

There is no doubt about it: Little Havana is bubbling over. The 6street visual arts collective phenomenon seems to have spread. Even a cautious observer would have been impressed by what happened on Friday, May 26, when about seven blocks of SW Eighth Street -- between Twelfth and Nineteenth avenues -- opened up and let their contents flow as part of Viernes Culturales, a last-Friday-of-each-month 'hood walk. Part of this effort to build an art scene on renovated Calle Ocho is Tower Arts Center, which just opened with "Beyond the Millennium," an exhibition of paintings by Marcela Santa Maria, Pedro Damian, Aldo Amador, Raymundo Garcia, and Silvio Gayton. West of this new arts venue sits La Vena del Gusto, a little place sponsored by Tere Martinez that is showing a bunch of artists, including Nestor Diaz de Villegas, the Curras brothers, Pedro Portal, Adalberto Delgado, Laura Luna, Tony Lopez, and Gilberto Marino (in collaboration with El Pub Restaurant, a landmark fixture).

The turnout for "Beyond the Millennium" was large and lively, but the display lacked an expert eye. Paintings were too close to one another and did not mix well. After the opening festivities, plastic cups, food bits, and napkins were left next to the artwork -- a sight in poor, well, taste. Still the mixed-use space could be a creative center for Calle Ocho. Also a movie theater, the Tower shows alternative films from Miami, Latin America, and Spain -- alternative meaning things you won't see on cheap-novella-saturated Spanish TV. Not surprisingly El Florida, by generation ñ's Bill Teck, is showing.

La Vena del Gusto was more successful. White and black, young and old mixed: Too many visitors tried to view the artwork in such a tiny space, but La Vena wasn't about the art, really. It was a concept, a mood to savor. Along with the art there was dancing and singing in a pungent guaguancó-filled atmosphere, the music courtesy of a group of young black rumberos just out of Cuba. The crowd's dynamism was surprising.

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It is a hot night, and drinks are scarce. In search of a beer we encounter Joaquin Pasto, a rafter from Santiago de Cuba who owns El Pescador, a tasty dive across the street from La Vena. "This is what we needed here; with art, we can conquer," he communicates in not-so-bad English. It sounds like a slogan, but tonight, in this context, it makes absolute sense. Pasto is promoting his own artsy Fridays, which include beer.

Some of the work, including a couple of absorbing dreamscapes from Carlos Franco, found its way to the street. Next to Franco is Victor Flores, a Peruvian artist showing bluish, erotic surrealist paintings, one of them lying on the ground. Artist George Gonzalez and Bill Teck are among the assembled, ecstatic at the intensity.

By 9:00 p.m. the walk is jumping. A long caravan of cars slows down. Mostly young, the drivers and passengers check out the event with curiosity, and they look baffled. This is their neighborhood, but they've never seen this much noise over art.

We pass by Susan Caraballo's Space 742, a groovy performance arena. It looks like a black box and has the potential to be a springboard for innovative local talent; artists such as Adrian Castro, Gustavo Matamoros, and Lourdes Simon already have performed here. Suddenly the rumba party moves to the street outside of La Vena. Maria Elena Garcia, from Iroko Dance Company, heads the exodus. The musicians drive the dancing, electric crowd west to Casa Panza. Soon after, a call to order: The police arrive and try to keep people on the sidewalk. "This is not a protest. Don't be afraid," an old woman tells a young officer. He returns a friendly smile.