"Cuban Roots: Where My Story Begins" by Laura Adams Wilson opening march 17 at thornebrook gallery

Date: Friday, March 17
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Thornebrook Gallery (map)

"Cuban Roots: Where My Story Began" will open with a celebration from 6-9 p.m. and will be on display from March 18 - April 1 at Thornebrook Gallery.

For Laura Adams Wilson, growing up half Cuban meant frequent trips to Miami, where the smell of cafe con leche and guava paste filled the air of her grandmother’s house, red coral lips gave soft cheek kisses, and lots and lots of cousins. 

Laura has decided to revisit the Cuban theme in her new show, entitled “Cuban Roots: Where My Story Begins.”

This set of work is a bit of a departure from her successful last show at Thornebrook Gallery in November, 2016. The juxtaposition between the beauty of Cuba and its tortured history has inspired a more textured approach, involving thinner layers of her technique being built up over many pours. 

This show is a love letter to her Grandmother, Daisy, who was born in Cienfuegos in August 1928, while her parents were visiting family for the summer. Her parents had left Cuba in 1922 for the “American Dream” and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gustavo Perez and his four brothers built homes together in Ohio before Gustavo relocated to Miami for health reasons in the 1950’s. Trips to Cuba were a regular event in the Perez family, with Laura’s mother also having memories of the beaches outside Havana and the family farm in Cienfuegos. That all ended once the revolution began and the family farm was confiscated by the government. 

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“Cuban Roots” coincides with ‘Bulla Cubana’ a celebration of Cuban arts and culture being hosted in Gainesville through the end of March.