Programs

The Cuban Art Space

The space opened in 1999 as a gallery of regularly scheduled exhibits and cultural programs. In 1991, the Center spearheaded a successful lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department. The decision in this lawsuit legalized the importation and sale of original Cuban art. Once the Center’s Art Space opened, it began to exhibit at first its own collection and over the years has continued to bring in the works of Cuban artists.

For information on current exhibits and traveling exhibits for rent, as well as art for sale, the Art Space has its own website:

Lifeline Fund

In response to shortages in Cuba, the Center set up the Lifeline Fund which enables contributors to donate much-needed materials to Cuban individuals and institutions. These materials include everything from medicines and therapeutic equipment to supplies for artists, teachers and students, as well as helping during natural disasters. For information or to send a donation, write The Lifeline Fund, c/o CCS.

Lectures and Film Series

The Center’s educational purposes are best served by holding public discussions about Cuban society and by presenting creative works that present the Cuban aesthetic, and inform at the same time. The Center presents regular lecture series on specific topics and when possible with experts from Cuba. At the same time it presents film showings and art exhibits at the Center and at other sites both in and out of New York City. All lecture and film programs are listed on both of the Center’s web sites.

Traveling Exhibits

The Center’s Cuban Art Space organizes exhibits to be shown at other institutions for a modest rental fee. With several thousand works of art, posters and photographs on its premises, the Art Space is a valuable resource for universities, community centers, galleries and other institutions across the country. In addition to exhibits already prepared, custom exhibits can be organized around a particular theme, a specific group of artists or kind of art.

In addition to the art exhibits, the Center for Cuban Studies has traveling exhibits of resource materials on Cuba-U.S. relations from its collection -- magazines, films, television programs, photographs, ephemera.

Travel to Cuba

In keeping with our commitment to provide U.S. citizens with information about Cuba, the Center assists groups and individuals who fall within the legal exemptions to the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba, i.e., those engaging in professional research, news-gathering, humanitarian or religious aid projects. Until unrestricted travel is again allowed between Cuba and the United States, the Center works to help those planning travel to Cuba to accomplish their goals.

Artists and Writers Committee

This Committee was founded in 1999 in an effort to strengthen the Center’s cultural exchange programs and to work toward changing U.S. policy in the arts arena. It is hoped that the Obama Administration will move toward expanding exchange and full normalization of relations. The Committee’s founding members include Harry Belafonte, David Byrne, Ariel Dorfman, Sean Ferrer, Danny Glover, Randa Haines, Buck Henry, Rory Kennedy, Spike Lee, Piedy and Sidney Lumet, Betsy and Paul Mazursky, Jean Stein, Alice Walker, Haskell Wexler, Roger Wilkins and many others. Membership is open to professional artists and writers.

For information on current exhibits and traveling exhibits for rent, as well as art for sale, the Art Space has its own website, www.cubanartspace.net.