Gilberto Neves is a soft-spoken man. He occupies a high-profile job. And he works for a company that carries a big – construction – stick.
Mr. Neves is president and CEO of Odebrecht USA, whose annual revenues totaled $2.4 billion last year, including income from the firms other interests in industrial engineering, oil and gas, and chemicals and petrochemicals.
The parent company of the US firm is Brazil-based Odebrecht, which was founded in 1944 by Norberto Odebrech. The company’s worldwide reach extends to 28 countries – from Africa to Europe and Asia – and boasts 190,000 employees.
The US company has been involved in a number of high-profile projects here in Miami-Dade County. They include the expansion of South and North terminals at Miami International Airport and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
“We chose Miami as a point of interest and we chose Miami-Dade as the corporate headquarters for the US corporation,” he said. “The company’s philosophy is based on trust, based on delegation, and the spirit of service. That is very strong.”
Mr. Neves talked about the company and his family at the Odebrecht offices in Coral Gables with Miami Today reporter Lou Ortiz.
From the Jewish Museum of Florida:
May is a time when we gather to share the pride of what American Jews have accomplished and contributed. As all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, this program explores the immeasurable impact of the influx of Jewish immigrants.
Stephen Whitfield of Brandeis University will speak on how Jews have changed America, and how America has changed them, including examples of Jews in Hollywood and music.
Jewish Museum of Florida's Founding Executive Director Marcia Jo Zerivitz, who initiated the concept for an annual Jewish American Heritage Month.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who led the efforts for the resolution signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, will also be featured on the program.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Jewish Federation of Broward County are co-sponsoring this event with the Jewish Museum of Florida and were represented by Pepi Dunay, the Jewish Federation of Broward County’s Director of Community Relations and Elaine Bloom, Board Member, Greater Miami Jewish Federation
WHAT IS JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH?
Like other groups' months, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is the time to celebrate the contributions of American Jews to the fabric of our nation's lives. America has been both a haven and a home to Jews. Many arrived as immigrants seeking escape from persecution, and in finding freedom, tolerance and opportunities here, have given back in all areas to enrich our national culture.
Each May, the President of the U.S. issues a Proclamation and President Barack Obama has also hosted JAHM receptions in the White House.
2012 OBSERVANCE
The theme is Immigration. Since arriving in St. Augustine, Florida in the 1500s (as conversos) or in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1654, the Jewish people have achieved great success in America, toiling tirelessly in strengthening the nation and in their commitments to faith and family.
The speaker, Stephen Whitfield, says, "A century ago, over two million Jews came to the United States from eastern and central Europe (from 1881 until 1914). The impact of these newcomers has been immeasurable. They changed America. No other Diaspora community has ever been larger or more powerful or more secure. But America also changed the newcomers. Their magnitude, their influence, their success also led to a rethinking of how the nation defined itself - and Jewish thinkers and writers felt compelled to address the question of how Jewish allegiance might be reconciled with American citizenship, so that any tension would be creative."
Stephen Whitfield, author of eight books, was raised in Jacksonville, FL and teaches in the American Studies Program at Brandeis University. He earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1972 in the History of American Civilization, an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Tulane University. Whitfield has had Visiting Professorships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the Catholic University of Leven/Louvain-la-Neuve, twice at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the University of Munich. He was the JAHM speaker in 2007 on the Contributions of American Jews to American Music.
From the Jewish Museum of Florida:
May is a time when we gather to share the pride of what American Jews have accomplished and contributed. As all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, this program explores the immeasurable impact of the influx of Jewish immigrants.
Stephen Whitfield of Brandeis University will speak on how Jews have changed America, and how America has changed them, including examples of Jews in Hollywood and music.
Jewish Museum of Florida's Founding Executive Director Marcia Jo Zerivitz, who initiated the concept for an annual Jewish American Heritage Month.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who led the efforts for the resolution signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, will also be featured on the program.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Jewish Federation of Broward County are co-sponsoring this event with the Jewish Museum of Florida and were represented by Pepi Dunay, the Jewish Federation of Broward County’s Director of Community Relations and Elaine Bloom, Board Member, Greater Miami Jewish Federation
WHAT IS JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH?
Like other groups' months, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is the time to celebrate the contributions of American Jews to the fabric of our nation's lives. America has been both a haven and a home to Jews. Many arrived as immigrants seeking escape from persecution, and in finding freedom, tolerance and opportunities here, have given back in all areas to enrich our national culture.
Each May, the President of the U.S. issues a Proclamation and President Barack Obama has also hosted JAHM receptions in the White House.
2012 OBSERVANCE
The theme is Immigration. Since arriving in St. Augustine, Florida in the 1500s (as conversos) or in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1654, the Jewish people have achieved great success in America, toiling tirelessly in strengthening the nation and in their commitments to faith and family.
The speaker, Stephen Whitfield, says, "A century ago, over two million Jews came to the United States from eastern and central Europe (from 1881 until 1914). The impact of these newcomers has been immeasurable. They changed America. No other Diaspora community has ever been larger or more powerful or more secure. But America also changed the newcomers. Their magnitude, their influence, their success also led to a rethinking of how the nation defined itself - and Jewish thinkers and writers felt compelled to address the question of how Jewish allegiance might be reconciled with American citizenship, so that any tension would be creative."
Stephen Whitfield, author of eight books, was raised in Jacksonville, FL and teaches in the American Studies Program at Brandeis University. He earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1972 in the History of American Civilization, an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Tulane University. Whitfield has had Visiting Professorships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the Catholic University of Leven/Louvain-la-Neuve, twice at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the University of Munich. He was the JAHM speaker in 2007 on the Contributions of American Jews to American Music.
From the Jewish Museum of Florida:
May is a time when we gather to share the pride of what American Jews have accomplished and contributed. As all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, this program explores the immeasurable impact of the influx of Jewish immigrants.
Stephen Whitfield of Brandeis University will speak on how Jews have changed America, and how America has changed them, including examples of Jews in Hollywood and music.
Jewish Museum of Florida's Founding Executive Director Marcia Jo Zerivitz, who initiated the concept for an annual Jewish American Heritage Month.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who led the efforts for the resolution signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, will also be featured on the program.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Jewish Federation of Broward County are co-sponsoring this event with the Jewish Museum of Florida and were represented by Pepi Dunay, the Jewish Federation of Broward County’s Director of Community Relations and Elaine Bloom, Board Member, Greater Miami Jewish Federation
WHAT IS JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH?
Like other groups' months, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is the time to celebrate the contributions of American Jews to the fabric of our nation's lives. America has been both a haven and a home to Jews. Many arrived as immigrants seeking escape from persecution, and in finding freedom, tolerance and opportunities here, have given back in all areas to enrich our national culture.
Each May, the President of the U.S. issues a Proclamation and President Barack Obama has also hosted JAHM receptions in the White House.
2012 OBSERVANCE
The theme is Immigration. Since arriving in St. Augustine, Florida in the 1500s (as conversos) or in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1654, the Jewish people have achieved great success in America, toiling tirelessly in strengthening the nation and in their commitments to faith and family.
The speaker, Stephen Whitfield, says, "A century ago, over two million Jews came to the United States from eastern and central Europe (from 1881 until 1914). The impact of these newcomers has been immeasurable. They changed America. No other Diaspora community has ever been larger or more powerful or more secure. But America also changed the newcomers. Their magnitude, their influence, their success also led to a rethinking of how the nation defined itself - and Jewish thinkers and writers felt compelled to address the question of how Jewish allegiance might be reconciled with American citizenship, so that any tension would be creative."
Stephen Whitfield, author of eight books, was raised in Jacksonville, FL and teaches in the American Studies Program at Brandeis University. He earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1972 in the History of American Civilization, an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Tulane University. Whitfield has had Visiting Professorships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the Catholic University of Leven/Louvain-la-Neuve, twice at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the University of Munich. He was the JAHM speaker in 2007 on the Contributions of American Jews to American Music.
From the Jewish Museum of Florida:
May is a time when we gather to share the pride of what American Jews have accomplished and contributed. As all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, this program explores the immeasurable impact of the influx of Jewish immigrants.
Stephen Whitfield of Brandeis University will speak on how Jews have changed America, and how America has changed them, including examples of Jews in Hollywood and music.
Jewish Museum of Florida's Founding Executive Director Marcia Jo Zerivitz, who initiated the concept for an annual Jewish American Heritage Month.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who led the efforts for the resolution signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, will also be featured on the program.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Jewish Federation of Broward County are co-sponsoring this event with the Jewish Museum of Florida and were represented by Pepi Dunay, the Jewish Federation of Broward County’s Director of Community Relations and Elaine Bloom, Board Member, Greater Miami Jewish Federation
WHAT IS JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH?
Like other groups' months, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is the time to celebrate the contributions of American Jews to the fabric of our nation's lives. America has been both a haven and a home to Jews. Many arrived as immigrants seeking escape from persecution, and in finding freedom, tolerance and opportunities here, have given back in all areas to enrich our national culture.
Each May, the President of the U.S. issues a Proclamation and President Barack Obama has also hosted JAHM receptions in the White House.
2012 OBSERVANCE
The theme is Immigration. Since arriving in St. Augustine, Florida in the 1500s (as conversos) or in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1654, the Jewish people have achieved great success in America, toiling tirelessly in strengthening the nation and in their commitments to faith and family.
The speaker, Stephen Whitfield, says, "A century ago, over two million Jews came to the United States from eastern and central Europe (from 1881 until 1914). The impact of these newcomers has been immeasurable. They changed America. No other Diaspora community has ever been larger or more powerful or more secure. But America also changed the newcomers. Their magnitude, their influence, their success also led to a rethinking of how the nation defined itself - and Jewish thinkers and writers felt compelled to address the question of how Jewish allegiance might be reconciled with American citizenship, so that any tension would be creative."
Stephen Whitfield, author of eight books, was raised in Jacksonville, FL and teaches in the American Studies Program at Brandeis University. He earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1972 in the History of American Civilization, an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Tulane University. Whitfield has had Visiting Professorships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the Catholic University of Leven/Louvain-la-Neuve, twice at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the University of Munich. He was the JAHM speaker in 2007 on the Contributions of American Jews to American Music.
From the 2012 Carbonell Awards held on April 2, 2012 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
Internationally-renowned sculptor Manuel Carbonell is the creator, namesake and Grand Benefactor of this prestigious event. Mr. Carbonell designed the original solid bronze and marble award in 1976. Born in 1918 in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba and educated throughout Europe, he fled Cuba in 1959. His artworks now adorn museums, galleries, private collections and public projects throughout the world. A special tribute to Mr. Carbonell was presented posthumously recognizing his significant contributions to the South Florida community and his legacy will live on.
Interview with George Sanchez-Calderon, February 2012, Miami
Swimming Pool Falla, 2010
As part of its commitment to serving the greater Miami community and in anticipation of its move to a new and expanded facility, Miami Art Museum has redoubled its efforts to build its collection of great works of art for the public to enjoy—and has received a challenge grant of $1 million from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation to support this process.
Beginning Friday, February 17, 2012, the museum will present a selection of these newly acquired works in the exhibition, Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection. Highlights include works by modern and contemporary masters such as Morris Louis and Fred Wilson, and emerging artists such as Nicolas Lobo, George Sánchez-Calderón and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, May 6, 2012. An exhibition preview and Artist Talk by Dara Friedman will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6-9pm.
“This installation provides another perspective on the museum’s continued growth into a civic asset for future generations of South Florida residents and visitors,” said MAM Director Thom Collins. “At the same time, the generous support from the Helena Rubinstein Foundation underscores the importance of our continued focus on building the museum's collection. With the construction of our new facility at Museum Park well underway, and our capital campaign at 75 percent of our goal, it is an opportune moment to make visible this equally important area of museum activity.”
The gift to Miami Art Museum from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation is designated as a challenge grant toward the purchase of contemporary art and requires a one-to-one match. The funds will be released in $250,000 installments annually or sooner, pending match timing.
“At the heart of an art museum is its collection, an area in which the Miami Art Museum has tremendous opportunity to grow in ways that are commensurate with the extraordinary building now under construction,” said Diane Moss, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation and a member of the board of trustees of Miami Art Museum. “It is my hope that this gift will enable new acquisitions and encourage others in our community to contribute to and nurture the growth of this collection.”
The gift was one of the last made by the Foundation before it ceased operations at the end of 2011. Over its nearly 60 year history, the Foundation distributed more than $130 million, primarily to education and community-based organizations. However, the Foundation has also had an interest in supporting the arts, a reflection of the founder's own interests in art and her connections with artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Marie Laurencin.
The point of departure for Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection is the video installation Dancer (2011), by Dara Friedman, which was co-produced by Miami Art Museum. The artist sent out a casting call for dancers of varied styles and genres, and filmed over 60 of them as they performed self-choreographed moves at various public locations throughout Miami, from busy South Beach streets to the rooftops of downtown buildings. As the dancers interrupt the normal flow of the urban milieu that surrounds them, they provide a poetic metaphor for the liberating potential of artistic expression.
The lyrical power of aesthetic experience is equally evident in two major paintings by Morris Louis–Circum II (1959-60) and Delta Eta (1960)–both gifts of the estate of the artist’s widow, the Marcella Brenner Revocable Trust. Measuring nearly 12 and 20 feet wide respectively, the works bear a sense of spatial depth and ethereal lightness that belies their monumental scale.
Also on view are several works that the museum recently purchased through the MAM Collectors Council. In Restless 20 and Restless 21 (which lend their titles to this display), Iran do Espirito Santo makes use of the physical space of the gallery to create a startlingly ambiguous perceptual encounter using planes of mirrored and frosted glass. Ernesto Neto’s Cai Cai Marrom (2007) is a large-scale sculptural installation consisting of a wooden armature from which nylon appendages stuffed with aromatic spices are suspended. The work centers on the body, evoking biological forms while providing a burst of sensorial stimulation. Robin Rhode’s stop-action digital animation Requiem for a Pavilion of Silence (2010) features a figure wearing an East German military uniform who paints multiple stenciled images of the Rietveld-designed “Berlin” chair on a wall behind him, sequentially creating the illusion of an imaginary “pavilion” that seems to both shelter and oppress him.
The presentation also features Fred Wilson’s Addiction Display (1991), which uses the visual language of natural history exhibits to draw a parallel between two sites in Colombia—one that has generated archeological artifacts and one associated with illegal drugs; together Wilson’s references create a tacit critique of the selective ways in which the cultural “Other” tends to be represented within Western institutional contexts.
Restless signals the special role played by the local art community in the development of the MAM collection through the inclusion of works by Nicolas Lobo and George Sánchez-Calderón, among several other Miami-based artists. Both artists address local urban space in different ways. Lobo’s Terrazzo Glide Slope, a purchase made with funds provided by MAM’s Young Collectors Council, is a sculptural representation of the invisible, V-shaped air routes that are traveled by airplanes unceasingly overhead as they depart from Miami’s airport. Sánchez-Calderón’s Swimming Pool Falla, donated by Liza and Dr. Arturo Mosquera, is a set of nine gold-foil “drawings” created with the use of fire. The work makes reference to Ed Ruscha’s landmark 1968 photoessay Nine Swimming Pools (which is also in the MAM collection), extending Ruscha’s critique of South Californian urban development patterns to Miami’s own evolving cityscape.
Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 children and adults every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum in Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami-Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000.
Interview with Mira Lehr, February 2012
Mira Lehr
Vegetata Mirabellis, 2010
Mixed media and gunpowder on okara paper
Collection Miami Art Museum, gift of Lin Arison
As part of its commitment to serving the greater Miami community and in anticipation of its move to a new and expanded facility, Miami Art Museum has redoubled its efforts to build its collection of great works of art for the public to enjoy—and has received a challenge grant of $1 million from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation to support this process.
Beginning Friday, February 17, 2012, the museum will present a selection of these newly acquired works in the exhibition, Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection. Highlights include works by modern and contemporary masters such as Morris Louis and Fred Wilson, and emerging artists such as Nicolas Lobo, George Sánchez-Calderón and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, May 6, 2012. An exhibition preview and Artist Talk by Dara Friedman will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6-9pm.
“This installation provides another perspective on the museum’s continued growth into a civic asset for future generations of South Florida residents and visitors,” said MAM Director Thom Collins. “At the same time, the generous support from the Helena Rubinstein Foundation underscores the importance of our continued focus on building the museum's collection. With the construction of our new facility at Museum Park well underway, and our capital campaign at 75 percent of our goal, it is an opportune moment to make visible this equally important area of museum activity.”
The gift to Miami Art Museum from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation is designated as a challenge grant toward the purchase of contemporary art and requires a one-to-one match. The funds will be released in $250,000 installments annually or sooner, pending match timing.
“At the heart of an art museum is its collection, an area in which the Miami Art Museum has tremendous opportunity to grow in ways that are commensurate with the extraordinary building now under construction,” said Diane Moss, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation and a member of the board of trustees of Miami Art Museum. “It is my hope that this gift will enable new acquisitions and encourage others in our community to contribute to and nurture the growth of this collection.”
The gift was one of the last made by the Foundation before it ceased operations at the end of 2011. Over its nearly 60 year history, the Foundation distributed more than $130 million, primarily to education and community-based organizations. However, the Foundation has also had an interest in supporting the arts, a reflection of the founder's own interests in art and her connections with artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Marie Laurencin.
The point of departure for Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection is the video installation Dancer (2011), by Dara Friedman, which was co-produced by Miami Art Museum. The artist sent out a casting call for dancers of varied styles and genres, and filmed over 60 of them as they performed self-choreographed moves at various public locations throughout Miami, from busy South Beach streets to the rooftops of downtown buildings. As the dancers interrupt the normal flow of the urban milieu that surrounds them, they provide a poetic metaphor for the liberating potential of artistic expression.
The lyrical power of aesthetic experience is equally evident in two major paintings by Morris Louis–Circum II (1959-60) and Delta Eta (1960)–both gifts of the estate of the artist’s widow, the Marcella Brenner Revocable Trust. Measuring nearly 12 and 20 feet wide respectively, the works bear a sense of spatial depth and ethereal lightness that belies their monumental scale.
Also on view are several works that the museum recently purchased through the MAM Collectors Council. In Restless 20 and Restless 21 (which lend their titles to this display), Iran do Espirito Santo makes use of the physical space of the gallery to create a startlingly ambiguous perceptual encounter using planes of mirrored and frosted glass. Ernesto Neto’s Cai Cai Marrom (2007) is a large-scale sculptural installation consisting of a wooden armature from which nylon appendages stuffed with aromatic spices are suspended. The work centers on the body, evoking biological forms while providing a burst of sensorial stimulation. Robin Rhode’s stop-action digital animation Requiem for a Pavilion of Silence (2010) features a figure wearing an East German military uniform who paints multiple stenciled images of the Rietveld-designed “Berlin” chair on a wall behind him, sequentially creating the illusion of an imaginary “pavilion” that seems to both shelter and oppress him.
The presentation also features Fred Wilson’s Addiction Display (1991), which uses the visual language of natural history exhibits to draw a parallel between two sites in Colombia—one that has generated archeological artifacts and one associated with illegal drugs; together Wilson’s references create a tacit critique of the selective ways in which the cultural “Other” tends to be represented within Western institutional contexts.
Restless signals the special role played by the local art community in the development of the MAM collection through the inclusion of works by Nicolas Lobo and George Sánchez-Calderón, among several other Miami-based artists. Both artists address local urban space in different ways. Lobo’s Terrazzo Glide Slope, a purchase made with funds provided by MAM’s Young Collectors Council, is a sculptural representation of the invisible, V-shaped air routes that are traveled by airplanes unceasingly overhead as they depart from Miami’s airport. Sánchez-Calderón’s Swimming Pool Falla, donated by Liza and Dr. Arturo Mosquera, is a set of nine gold-foil “drawings” created with the use of fire. The work makes reference to Ed Ruscha’s landmark 1968 photoessay Nine Swimming Pools (which is also in the MAM collection), extending Ruscha’s critique of South Californian urban development patterns to Miami’s own evolving cityscape.
Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 children and adults every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum in Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami-Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000.
Interview with Dara Friedman, January 2012
Dara Friedman
Dancer, 2011
High definition digital video
Dimensions variable
Collection of the Miami Art Museum
As part of its commitment to serving the greater Miami community and in anticipation of its move to a new and expanded facility, Miami Art Museum has redoubled its efforts to build its collection of great works of art for the public to enjoy—and has received a challenge grant of $1 million from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation to support this process.
Beginning Friday, February 17, 2012, the museum will present a selection of these newly acquired works in the exhibition, Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection. Highlights include works by modern and contemporary masters such as Morris Louis and Fred Wilson, and emerging artists such as Nicolas Lobo, George Sánchez-Calderón and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, May 6, 2012. An exhibition preview and Artist Talk by Dara Friedman will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6-9pm.
“This installation provides another perspective on the museum’s continued growth into a civic asset for future generations of South Florida residents and visitors,” said MAM Director Thom Collins. “At the same time, the generous support from the Helena Rubinstein Foundation underscores the importance of our continued focus on building the museum's collection. With the construction of our new facility at Museum Park well underway, and our capital campaign at 75 percent of our goal, it is an opportune moment to make visible this equally important area of museum activity.”
The gift to Miami Art Museum from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation is designated as a challenge grant toward the purchase of contemporary art and requires a one-to-one match. The funds will be released in $250,000 installments annually or sooner, pending match timing.
“At the heart of an art museum is its collection, an area in which the Miami Art Museum has tremendous opportunity to grow in ways that are commensurate with the extraordinary building now under construction,” said Diane Moss, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation and a member of the board of trustees of Miami Art Museum. “It is my hope that this gift will enable new acquisitions and encourage others in our community to contribute to and nurture the growth of this collection.”
The gift was one of the last made by the Foundation before it ceased operations at the end of 2011. Over its nearly 60 year history, the Foundation distributed more than $130 million, primarily to education and community-based organizations. However, the Foundation has also had an interest in supporting the arts, a reflection of the founder's own interests in art and her connections with artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Marie Laurencin.
The point of departure for Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection is the video installation Dancer (2011), by Dara Friedman, which was co-produced by Miami Art Museum. The artist sent out a casting call for dancers of varied styles and genres, and filmed over 60 of them as they performed self-choreographed moves at various public locations throughout Miami, from busy South Beach streets to the rooftops of downtown buildings. As the dancers interrupt the normal flow of the urban milieu that surrounds them, they provide a poetic metaphor for the liberating potential of artistic expression.
The lyrical power of aesthetic experience is equally evident in two major paintings by Morris Louis–Circum II (1959-60) and Delta Eta (1960)–both gifts of the estate of the artist’s widow, the Marcella Brenner Revocable Trust. Measuring nearly 12 and 20 feet wide respectively, the works bear a sense of spatial depth and ethereal lightness that belies their monumental scale.
Also on view are several works that the museum recently purchased through the MAM Collectors Council. In Restless 20 and Restless 21 (which lend their titles to this display), Iran do Espirito Santo makes use of the physical space of the gallery to create a startlingly ambiguous perceptual encounter using planes of mirrored and frosted glass. Ernesto Neto’s Cai Cai Marrom (2007) is a large-scale sculptural installation consisting of a wooden armature from which nylon appendages stuffed with aromatic spices are suspended. The work centers on the body, evoking biological forms while providing a burst of sensorial stimulation. Robin Rhode’s stop-action digital animation Requiem for a Pavilion of Silence (2010) features a figure wearing an East German military uniform who paints multiple stenciled images of the Rietveld-designed “Berlin” chair on a wall behind him, sequentially creating the illusion of an imaginary “pavilion” that seems to both shelter and oppress him.
The presentation also features Fred Wilson’s Addiction Display (1991), which uses the visual language of natural history exhibits to draw a parallel between two sites in Colombia—one that has generated archeological artifacts and one associated with illegal drugs; together Wilson’s references create a tacit critique of the selective ways in which the cultural “Other” tends to be represented within Western institutional contexts.
Restless signals the special role played by the local art community in the development of the MAM collection through the inclusion of works by Nicolas Lobo and George Sánchez-Calderón, among several other Miami-based artists. Both artists address local urban space in different ways. Lobo’s Terrazzo Glide Slope, a purchase made with funds provided by MAM’s Young Collectors Council, is a sculptural representation of the invisible, V-shaped air routes that are traveled by airplanes unceasingly overhead as they depart from Miami’s airport. Sánchez-Calderón’s Swimming Pool Falla, donated by Liza and Dr. Arturo Mosquera, is a set of nine gold-foil “drawings” created with the use of fire. The work makes reference to Ed Ruscha’s landmark 1968 photoessay Nine Swimming Pools (which is also in the MAM collection), extending Ruscha’s critique of South Californian urban development patterns to Miami’s own evolving cityscape.
Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 children and adults every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum in Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami-Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000.
Interview with Christy Gast, January 2012
Christy Gast
Batty Cave, 2010
Three-channel video installation
Dimensions variable
Collection Miami Art Museum, gift of Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz
As part of its commitment to serving the greater Miami community and in anticipation of its move to a new and expanded facility, Miami Art Museum has redoubled its efforts to build its collection of great works of art for the public to enjoy—and has received a challenge grant of $1 million from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation to support this process.
Beginning Friday, February 17, 2012, the museum will present a selection of these newly acquired works in the exhibition, Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection. Highlights include works by modern and contemporary masters such as Morris Louis and Fred Wilson, and emerging artists such as Nicolas Lobo, George Sánchez-Calderón and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, May 6, 2012. An exhibition preview and Artist Talk by Dara Friedman will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6-9pm.
“This installation provides another perspective on the museum’s continued growth into a civic asset for future generations of South Florida residents and visitors,” said MAM Director Thom Collins. “At the same time, the generous support from the Helena Rubinstein Foundation underscores the importance of our continued focus on building the museum's collection. With the construction of our new facility at Museum Park well underway, and our capital campaign at 75 percent of our goal, it is an opportune moment to make visible this equally important area of museum activity.”
The gift to Miami Art Museum from the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation is designated as a challenge grant toward the purchase of contemporary art and requires a one-to-one match. The funds will be released in $250,000 installments annually or sooner, pending match timing.
“At the heart of an art museum is its collection, an area in which the Miami Art Museum has tremendous opportunity to grow in ways that are commensurate with the extraordinary building now under construction,” said Diane Moss, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation and a member of the board of trustees of Miami Art Museum. “It is my hope that this gift will enable new acquisitions and encourage others in our community to contribute to and nurture the growth of this collection.”
The gift was one of the last made by the Foundation before it ceased operations at the end of 2011. Over its nearly 60 year history, the Foundation distributed more than $130 million, primarily to education and community-based organizations. However, the Foundation has also had an interest in supporting the arts, a reflection of the founder's own interests in art and her connections with artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Marie Laurencin.
The point of departure for Restless: Recent Acquisitions from the MAM Collection is the video installation Dancer (2011), by Dara Friedman, which was co-produced by Miami Art Museum. The artist sent out a casting call for dancers of varied styles and genres, and filmed over 60 of them as they performed self-choreographed moves at various public locations throughout Miami, from busy South Beach streets to the rooftops of downtown buildings. As the dancers interrupt the normal flow of the urban milieu that surrounds them, they provide a poetic metaphor for the liberating potential of artistic expression.
The lyrical power of aesthetic experience is equally evident in two major paintings by Morris Louis–Circum II (1959-60) and Delta Eta (1960)–both gifts of the estate of the artist’s widow, the Marcella Brenner Revocable Trust. Measuring nearly 12 and 20 feet wide respectively, the works bear a sense of spatial depth and ethereal lightness that belies their monumental scale.
Also on view are several works that the museum recently purchased through the MAM Collectors Council. In Restless 20 and Restless 21 (which lend their titles to this display), Iran do Espirito Santo makes use of the physical space of the gallery to create a startlingly ambiguous perceptual encounter using planes of mirrored and frosted glass. Ernesto Neto’s Cai Cai Marrom (2007) is a large-scale sculptural installation consisting of a wooden armature from which nylon appendages stuffed with aromatic spices are suspended. The work centers on the body, evoking biological forms while providing a burst of sensorial stimulation. Robin Rhode’s stop-action digital animation Requiem for a Pavilion of Silence (2010) features a figure wearing an East German military uniform who paints multiple stenciled images of the Rietveld-designed “Berlin” chair on a wall behind him, sequentially creating the illusion of an imaginary “pavilion” that seems to both shelter and oppress him.
The presentation also features Fred Wilson’s Addiction Display (1991), which uses the visual language of natural history exhibits to draw a parallel between two sites in Colombia—one that has generated archeological artifacts and one associated with illegal drugs; together Wilson’s references create a tacit critique of the selective ways in which the cultural “Other” tends to be represented within Western institutional contexts.
Restless signals the special role played by the local art community in the development of the MAM collection through the inclusion of works by Nicolas Lobo and George Sánchez-Calderón, among several other Miami-based artists. Both artists address local urban space in different ways. Lobo’s Terrazzo Glide Slope, a purchase made with funds provided by MAM’s Young Collectors Council, is a sculptural representation of the invisible, V-shaped air routes that are traveled by airplanes unceasingly overhead as they depart from Miami’s airport. Sánchez-Calderón’s Swimming Pool Falla, donated by Liza and Dr. Arturo Mosquera, is a set of nine gold-foil “drawings” created with the use of fire. The work makes reference to Ed Ruscha’s landmark 1968 photoessay Nine Swimming Pools (which is also in the MAM collection), extending Ruscha’s critique of South Californian urban development patterns to Miami’s own evolving cityscape.
Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 children and adults every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum in Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami-Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000.
As president of UPS Americas Region, Romaine Seguin oversees all package and cargo operations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ms. Seguin became president following a 29-year career with UPS, working her way up from part-time hub supervisor in 1983 Missouri. In 1989 she accepted a five-year assignment in Europe, living in the United Kingdom and France.
“UPS is unique,” she said. “We promote within. We’ll hire lawyers for specialty functions off the street, but typically most of us work our way throughout.”
After returning to the US in 1994, Ms. Seguin worked as an air-district controller in Louisville, Kentucky, managing the company’s ramp and hub division from 1996 to 1999. In 1999 Ms. Seguin moved to Detroit as operations division manager, in 2001 she was promoted to managing director of the Gulf South district and in 2004 she was named managing director of the Minnesota district.
In October 2007 Ms. Seguin moved to Milan Italy, where she served as managing director of UPS South Europe and was later promoted to chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, based in Brussels, Belgium.
Ms. Seguin was asked to serve as president of the Americas Region in September 2010, where she has used the experienced she gained abroad to better operations in the southern US.
“I feel when you live in different cities you learn a different way to handle labor,” she said. “If you get the chance to work abroad or live abroad, absolutely take it in a second. I really think that’s what helped me for this position. The more experience you get with diversity and people in situations the better it prepares us for the job.”
While with the company Ms. Seguin helped open the first automated test wing at UPS Worldport, which was used to test and validate $2 billion worth of technology and equipment. She played a large role in the development of company’s green efforts with the introduction of 12 zero-emission electric vehicles and 30 compressed natural gas vans in Germany and the United Kingdom.
“Sustainability is a very, very big part of the way we do business,” she said. “It’s important with our vendors. We want to partner with vendors who have the same vision. It’s important to our customers and it’s important to our employees.”
Ms. Seguin discussed UPS’s position as the ninth largest airline in the world and the largest air cargo carrier at Miami International Airport with Miami Today staff writer Ashley Hopkins at the UPS Americas Region offices.
With a background in military intelligence and security services and a degree in computer science, Kerry Bailey finds himself heading one of Miami’s key high-tech companies: Terremark Worldwide. Mr. Bailey was brought in after Verizon Communications purchased Terremark earlier this year.
Mr. Bailey succeeds Terremark founder Manny Medina, who Mr. Bailey credits for having the vision to reinvent the company’s focus from real estate to information technology, or IT, and he hopes to build on his predecessor’s work.
Today, as part of communications giant Verizon, Miami-based Terremark has grown to more than 3,000 employees in dozens of countries around the world. One of the company’s main data centers – the Network Access Point of the Americas – is located downtown, not far from the firm’s corporate headquarters.
As company president, Mr. Bailey is in charge of overseeing operations at the NAP of the Americas data center, which handles an astounding 90% of the Internet traffic between North America, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Bailey oversees the facility, which handles millions of secured electronic communications between people, businesses and even government agencies.
He thinks Terremark will continue to grow as so-called “cloud computing” increasingly serves as a platform for mobile phone and computer communications, transforming everyday life and workplaces for millions of people.
“Connecting to the cloud are the things that I think are going to dramatically change our industry,” Mr. Bailey says.
“I think we’re in the third era of this IT evolution,” he adds. “First, we were in mainframe (computing). And then we were in client server (mode). We’re now in cloud. Cloud is going to change business. And as businesses change, it’s going to change how the workers function.”
When he’s not on the job, Mr. Bailey enjoys golfing, fishing and spending time with his three children.
“It’s all about the kids and their sports and what they’re doing,” he says, “and they happen to just by chance play golf and fish, so we do a lot of that here in Miami.”
Mr. Bailey spoke about his vision for Terremark and the IT industry as a whole with Miami Today staff writer Scott Blake in his 28th-floor office high above Biscayne Boulevard.
With a background in military intelligence and security services and a degree in computer science, Kerry Bailey finds himself heading one of Miami’s key high-tech companies: Terremark Worldwide. Mr. Bailey was brought in after Verizon Communications purchased Terremark earlier this year.
Mr. Bailey succeeds Terremark founder Manny Medina, who Mr. Bailey credits for having the vision to reinvent the company’s focus from real estate to information technology, or IT, and he hopes to build on his predecessor’s work.
Today, as part of communications giant Verizon, Miami-based Terremark has grown to more than 3,000 employees in dozens of countries around the world. One of the company’s main data centers – the Network Access Point of the Americas – is located downtown, not far from the firm’s corporate headquarters.
As company president, Mr. Bailey is in charge of overseeing operations at the NAP of the Americas data center, which handles an astounding 90% of the Internet traffic between North America, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Bailey oversees the facility, which handles millions of secured electronic communications between people, businesses and even government agencies.
He thinks Terremark will continue to grow as so-called “cloud computing” increasingly serves as a platform for mobile phone and computer communications, transforming everyday life and workplaces for millions of people.
“Connecting to the cloud are the things that I think are going to dramatically change our industry,” Mr. Bailey says.
“I think we’re in the third era of this IT evolution,” he adds. “First, we were in mainframe (computing). And then we were in client server (mode). We’re now in cloud. Cloud is going to change business. And as businesses change, it’s going to change how the workers function.”
When he’s not on the job, Mr. Bailey enjoys golfing, fishing and spending time with his three children.
“It’s all about the kids and their sports and what they’re doing,” he says, “and they happen to just by chance play golf and fish, so we do a lot of that here in Miami.”
Mr. Bailey spoke about his vision for Terremark and the IT industry as a whole with Miami Today staff writer Scott Blake in his 28th-floor office high above Biscayne Boulevard.
NEW EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA SEPT. 13
"Wooden Synagogues of Poland & The Florida Connection"
Tells Stories of Shtetls and Families that Represent the Majority of the Jewish Community.
On September 13, the Jewish Museum of Florida opens to the public an exhibition that tells stories of Polish shtetls and some of their Jewish families who settled in Florida.
In these clips, the Museum's founding executive director and chief curator, Marcia Jo Zerivitz, JP Morgan's local representative and Elliot Maurice, son of Peter Maurice, offer remarks on the exhibition.
The genesis of the exhibit was the donation by Englishman Peter Maurice of ten models of 17th-18th century Polish wooden synagogues. He researched and built the 1/40-scale models 2003-2007.
Jews have lived in Poland for more than 1,000 years. About 80% of the American Jewish community has origins in Poland. That is not surprising, as we know that this was the center of the European Jewish world with more than 3 million Jews before the Holocaust. The focus of life for these Polish Jews was their synagogue. For 400 years prior to World War II, the Jews of the shtetls built approximately 1,000 wooden synagogues, because timber was plentiful. According to some art historians, the wooden synagogues of Poland, with their painted and carved interiors, were a truly original and organic manifestation of artistic expression-the only real Jewish folk art in history.
These beautiful and unique 17th and 18th century Polish wooden synagogues no longer exist. During World War II, the Nazis burned to the ground those still standing. Some synagogues built in the 19th and 20th centuries have been found in Poland and what is now Lithuania and are in deteriorated conditions.
This exhibit conveys the enormity of what was lost during World War II. Poland was the place where the Nazis built most of the death camps. This is the place where most of Europe's Jews perished.
The Museum's founding executive director and chief curator, Marcia Jo Zerivitz, said, "While we have various models in our Collections, from a kosher bakery in Lakeland to a model of our very own Beth Jacob synagogue, this donation is so unique in that it brings a taste of old Polish Jewish life to modern day Miami Beach. So many Floridian Jews have a family history from Polish shtetls. These beautiful, unique models evoke memories of our heritage. When you look at them, you can almost hear the davening (praying) from within the walls and recall the pain of suffering of all Eastern European Jews from the period of the Holocaust when the Nazis destroyed these structures and most of the Jewish people. Through the creation of these models, Peter Maurice ensured that an element of Jewish life in Poland would not be forgotten. And we are so honored that Maurice chose the Jewish Museum of Florida from all the museums in the world to tell this compelling, significant story."
Many Floridian Jews have a family history from Polish shtetls (small towns in Eastern Europe with a sizeable Jewish population). To make the Florida Connection, the Jewish Museum of Florida invited Jewish families to submit material evidence of their Polish roots for this exhibition. The curatorial staff researched each of the towns represented by the wooden synagogue models and by the families, so the story includes photographs, artifacts and documents from more than 30 towns and nearly 40 families.
The exhibit runs through March 18, 2012.
NEW EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA SEPT. 13
"Wooden Synagogues of Poland & The Florida Connection"
Tells Stories of Shtetls and Families that Represent the Majority of the Jewish Community.
On September 13, the Jewish Museum of Florida opens to the public an exhibition that tells stories of Polish shtetls and some of their Jewish families who settled in Florida.
In these clips, the Museum's founding executive director and chief curator, Marcia Jo Zerivitz, JP Morgan's local representative and Elliot Maurice, son of Peter Maurice, offer remarks on the exhibition.
The genesis of the exhibit was the donation by Englishman Peter Maurice of ten models of 17th-18th century Polish wooden synagogues. He researched and built the 1/40-scale models 2003-2007.
Jews have lived in Poland for more than 1,000 years. About 80% of the American Jewish community has origins in Poland. That is not surprising, as we know that this was the center of the European Jewish world with more than 3 million Jews before the Holocaust. The focus of life for these Polish Jews was their synagogue. For 400 years prior to World War II, the Jews of the shtetls built approximately 1,000 wooden synagogues, because timber was plentiful. According to some art historians, the wooden synagogues of Poland, with their painted and carved interiors, were a truly original and organic manifestation of artistic expression-the only real Jewish folk art in history.
These beautiful and unique 17th and 18th century Polish wooden synagogues no longer exist. During World War II, the Nazis burned to the ground those still standing. Some synagogues built in the 19th and 20th centuries have been found in Poland and what is now Lithuania and are in deteriorated conditions.
This exhibit conveys the enormity of what was lost during World War II. Poland was the place where the Nazis built most of the death camps. This is the place where most of Europe's Jews perished.
The Museum's founding executive director and chief curator, Marcia Jo Zerivitz, said, "While we have various models in our Collections, from a kosher bakery in Lakeland to a model of our very own Beth Jacob synagogue, this donation is so unique in that it brings a taste of old Polish Jewish life to modern day Miami Beach. So many Floridian Jews have a family history from Polish shtetls. These beautiful, unique models evoke memories of our heritage. When you look at them, you can almost hear the davening (praying) from within the walls and recall the pain of suffering of all Eastern European Jews from the period of the Holocaust when the Nazis destroyed these structures and most of the Jewish people. Through the creation of these models, Peter Maurice ensured that an element of Jewish life in Poland would not be forgotten. And we are so honored that Maurice chose the Jewish Museum of Florida from all the museums in the world to tell this compelling, significant story."
Many Floridian Jews have a family history from Polish shtetls (small towns in Eastern Europe with a sizeable Jewish population). To make the Florida Connection, the Jewish Museum of Florida invited Jewish families to submit material evidence of their Polish roots for this exhibition. The curatorial staff researched each of the towns represented by the wooden synagogue models and by the families, so the story includes photographs, artifacts and documents from more than 30 towns and nearly 40 families.
The exhibit runs through March 18, 2012.
Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, talks with host Alison Stewart about how debt on both sides of the Atlantic will shape our economic futures for many years to come. Need to Know airs Fridays on PBS. Watch full-length episodes of Need to Know athttp://video.pbs.org/program/1458405365/
Suzana De Paola is a Figurative Artist whose creations consist of acrylic paintings featuring stylized portraits and Pop Art. More recently she ventured with pastel for portraits commission work. Aggressive brush strokes and the use of chiaroscuro* is a strong characteristic of her work and sensuality is a quality often included.
Suzana was born in Brazil, but having travelled extensively since a very young age, the subject matter cannot be pin-pointed. Cultural experiences have a constant impact on her work, and often drive her to try different mediums and subject matters. Her style is highly influenced by Tamara De Lempicka and the Pop Art movement.
Her artistic journey began in Rome, Italy in 1996. Suzana lived in Rome and studied art in high school, travelling throughout Europe on school projects and for leisure. The family support and recognition from early school years from as early as 1989, encouraged Suzana to share her art and never leave the passion for the arts dormant. Some early recognition includes winning 2nd place in the “World Food Day Poster” competition from FAO Women's Guild of Rome in 1999, and being featured in the 2000 year book for her school (with "Extremes" painting)
Currently living in Miami, Florida, Suzana is not only involved in the art community by coordinating large festivals throughout the year and assisting emerging artists, but she also exhibits in festivals and galleries. In her decade of artistic trials she has found her style and has found that travelling around the world makes for great conceptual series.
International law firm DLA Piper has only 28 attorneys focused on bankruptcy and restructuring in its global army of more than 1,400.
Craig Rasile, who’s in the midst of staffing up a brand new office in the heart of downtown Miami to change that, is the man they picked to change all that.
He recently led an exodus of seven attorneys from Hunton & Williams, four who joined DLA with him.
“They asked me to help them organize, manage, build and develop the Miami office, which I thought was a very intriguing prospect and a challenge,” Mr. Rasile said. “I've done that at Holland & Knight, I did it at Hunton & Williams… and I thought I could do this globally for DLA Piper, but also to become a critical component of the restructuring practice in the firm.”
On top of all that he said he agreed with DLA in that the world is becoming smaller and in partnering with firms around the globe to serve clients. The move also gave him the chance reunite and build a presence with old friends from college and law school.
The Miami office is to serve as a link between Europe, where DLA has more than 125 partners, and Latin America where it’s trying to grow its presence.
Mr. Rasile discussed the challenges of opening up a brand new office in a town swamped with lawyers, and why of all places in Latin America DLA chose to work in Venezuela, with Miami Today staff writer Zachary Fagenson.
International law firm DLA Piper has only 28 attorneys focused on bankruptcy and restructuring in its global army of more than 1,400.
Craig Rasile, who’s in the midst of staffing up a brand new office in the heart of downtown Miami to change that, is the man they picked to change all that.
He recently led an exodus of seven attorneys from Hunton & Williams, four who joined DLA with him.
“They asked me to help them organize, manage, build and develop the Miami office, which I thought was a very intriguing prospect and a challenge,” Mr. Rasile said. “I've done that at Holland & Knight, I did it at Hunton & Williams… and I thought I could do this globally for DLA Piper, but also to become a critical component of the restructuring practice in the firm.”
On top of all that he said he agreed with DLA in that the world is becoming smaller and in partnering with firms around the globe to serve clients. The move also gave him the chance reunite and build a presence with old friends from college and law school.
The Miami office is to serve as a link between Europe, where DLA has more than 125 partners, and Latin America where it’s trying to grow its presence.
Mr. Rasile discussed the challenges of opening up a brand new office in a town swamped with lawyers, and why of all places in Latin America DLA chose to work in Venezuela, with Miami Today staff writer Zachary Fagenson.
International law firm DLA Piper has only 28 attorneys focused on bankruptcy and restructuring in its global army of more than 1,400.
Craig Rasile, who’s in the midst of staffing up a brand new office in the heart of downtown Miami to change that, is the man they picked to change all that.
He recently led an exodus of seven attorneys from Hunton & Williams, four who joined DLA with him.
“They asked me to help them organize, manage, build and develop the Miami office, which I thought was a very intriguing prospect and a challenge,” Mr. Rasile said. “I've done that at Holland & Knight, I did it at Hunton & Williams… and I thought I could do this globally for DLA Piper, but also to become a critical component of the restructuring practice in the firm.”
On top of all that he said he agreed with DLA in that the world is becoming smaller and in partnering with firms around the globe to serve clients. The move also gave him the chance reunite and build a presence with old friends from college and law school.
The Miami office is to serve as a link between Europe, where DLA has more than 125 partners, and Latin America where it’s trying to grow its presence.
Mr. Rasile discussed the challenges of opening up a brand new office in a town swamped with lawyers, and why of all places in Latin America DLA chose to work in Venezuela, with Miami Today staff writer Zachary Fagenson.
