HELP US PRESERVE THE HISPANIC CULTURAL ART CENTER

The beautiful and historic JW MWarner Place,111 SW 5th Ave, Miami, Fl 33130 was  built in 1911 and is on the National and State Register of Historic Places faces a grave situation. This original preserved building is in need of significant maintenance primarily a new roof, otherwise  the City of Miami, Miami Dade County and the State of Florida could lose a significant part of its history and with it the Miami Hispanic Cultural Arts Center, the most important center promoting Hispanic Culture in Florida to our undeserved local community and visitors. We would also lose the  home to such important organizations as the Creation Art Center, promoting Hispanic Arts in theater, literature,  film, art exhibitions and music; the annual International Ballet Festival of Miami and the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. Please read about our history and how important your support and the support of the community is to preserving this gem.
 


 HELP US PRESERVE THE HISTORIC MIAMI HISPANIC CULTURAL ART CENTER  AND HISPANIC CULTURE IN AMERICA

The Miami Hispanic Cultural Arts Center (the White House of the Arts) founded by the late Pedro Pablo Peña, now under the direction of Mr. Eriberto Jimenez, is home to three renowned Miami non-profit arts organizations: The Miami Hispanic Ballet (MHB) that produces every year, the International Ballet Festival Miami, now in its 26th edition; The Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami  (CCBM) a company dedicated to promoting and preserving the legacy of the Cuban Ballet; and Creation Art Center (CAC) organization dedicated to promote and preserve Hispanic culture in the US, which produces all the cultural events held at the (MHCAC).

 The Cultural Center is located in the heart of Little Havana Miami at the J.W. Warner Place, 111 SW 5th Ave., a colonial house built in 1911 listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Because of its antiquity it requires special care.

 
What is going on with the house right now?


 The house was the home and business of the JW Warner’s, first florist in Miami. After they retired It was restructured in the 1980s to be used as offices to preserve and prevent it from being demolished and received national historical designation in 1983. After 30 years it was acquired to give rise to the Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center, through money donated by  Miami Dade-County and the City of Miami. The funds we received at the time to purchase the building were not sufficient to be able to make major repairs. Gradually, and after so long, the house has deteriorated, and new repair needs have appeared. A new roof is desperately needed, rotting wood to be replaced and more for which we need to raise a minimum of $100,000, to co-finance the repairs to the facility and match the amount that the state of Florida Historical Division can grant us. Thus, by pooling the aid of the State of Florida, other possible Grants and private donations, we can manage to restructure and save the JW Warner House home of the Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center and the organizations that inhabit it, from falling into disrepair.


What are the activities that take place in the cultural center and that have a strong impact on the community?

 
The Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center, mission is to preserve and promote Hispanic culture, presenting a wide variety of artistic disciplines the headquarters of 3 important organizations:

 


The Miami Hispanic Ballet founded in 1993. It is the promoter organization of the Miami International Ballet Festival, which has been held for 26 consecutive years, presenting performances in different theaters in the city, where some of the most famous ballet companies in the world represented by their stars participate.  The Festival also includes a series of dance films, workshops, book presentations and art exhibitions.




 The Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami is a professional dance company, dedicated to presenting the best of the classical ballet repertoire and to promote and preserve the tradition of the Cuban Classical School of Ballet outside Cuba.  The company offers seasonal performances of classical and original repertoire presenting Cuban ballet stars alongside young Hispanic soloists and corp de ballet. The CCBM school is dedicated to preserving the brilliant technique and rich heritage in the famous tradition of the Cuban Ballet, offering ballet classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced students, with registrations open all year round. Classes are taught starting from 3 years of age onwards, as well as classes for professionals. The school also holds an important International Summer Camp for students from all over the world, who come to improve their technical level through classes with excellent teachers, in addition to participating in the International Ballet Festival Youth Gala.




The Creation Art Center is the organization dedicated to presenting all cultural activities in the center, 80%, are free and open to the public. The center offers a variety of artistic disciplines highlighting Hispanic Artists: Art Exhibits, Theater Readings and Plays, Poetry Readings, Literary Fridays, Film Series, Book Presentations, Concerts, Dance Performances, the majority in Spanish to serve our community and preserve Hispanic Culture.



The center's usual programming includes " Viernes de Tertulia", literary meetings, led by the writer and critic of the Miami Herald: Luis de la Paz. The program features writers, journalists, painters, actors, singers, art critics, renowned directors, who, through intimate interviews, share their professional careers and experiences with the audience.  "Poetry Nights" literary event held monthly, where all lovers of this literary genre have a place to present their works. "La Hora de los Bajitos" a new children's space that seeks to cultivate and promote Hispanic literature from a young age.




Art Exhibits; open every day to the public free of charge. Every 4 to 6 weeks a different artist is invited to exhibit their work, Paintings, sculptures, installations, video art, photography, ceramics, etc. CAC has acquired a Private Collection of art works donated by many of the artists that have exhibited at the gallery. The Private Collection is on display at times when there is no artist on exhibit. Since 2012 CAC’s Art Gallery has exhibited works by over 200 artists.




The Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center features two beautiful art exhibition spaces, the Peña and Warner Art Galleries, located on the first floor of the cultural center and offer a space where renowned and new Hispanic artists can exhibit their works.  These exhibitions are free and open daily to the public. The house has a permanent exhibition room of historical documents dating from the early 1900s belonging to the original owners of the house, which are part of the historic legacy of the city of Miami.




The house also has two dance studios, as well as a beautiful exterior with gardens, parking and outdoor stage, an ideal place for small concerts, receptions, classes, and other activities.







Does the Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center have the social objective of presenting Hispanic artists in the United State and preserving the Hispanic Culture?




All our organizations share this goal. An example of this is the International Ballet Festival of Miami which is a platform for all Hispanic dance artists. The Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami features Hispanic dancers and Cuban Ballet Stars allowing them the opportunity to perform classical ballets at different major theaters and presents a platform to launch into the international world of dance. The school aims to create new generations of dancers, with excellent technical bases. The Creation Art Center promotes Hispanic artists of different artistic expressions:  theater, plastic arts, sculpture, painting, singing, music, concerts, etc. The intention is to be a platform for the development of both new and established artists with the mission to present and preserve Hispanic Culture in the United States. All this makes up our social work, impacting the Latino Community in the State of Florida composed of 1.8 million Latinos who inhabit this territory.




Miami Dade's multicultural community is diverse and there is a great need to preserve its traditions. The activities planned at the Hispanic Cultural Art Center seek to enrich cultural life in our city and preserve our Hispanic heritage.  Making the arts accessible to our community is our mission, and we hope that with greater support from our government and private entities we can repair our headquarters and continue this work for the benefit of an entire community.





What if we do not fix the house?
 

The house will hopefully receive funds from the State and County, but at this juncture due to COVID we are not sure yet at what level and anyway just relying on government funds will not be enough. This is why we need to launch this Go Fund Me campaign. The fact that the house, in addition to being a Cultural Center, is a historical site and it our duty to find ways to maintain and preserve it. MHCAC has enormous historical significance and was the first florist that existed in this city. The elegant spacious exterior architecture and the interior original beautiful woodwork, coral fireplace and chandeliers is a unique style in the city of Miami. In addition, the MHCAC/ JW Warner House is the only Miami property to be featured in “Remarking America”, the definitive book of the best preserved, historical houses in the United States.


The house being so old requires significant maintenance. The issues of water leaks, roof repair and deterioration of the exterior over time needs to be repaired urgently. If we do not do this in a timely manner, we may run the risk of problems being accentuated and facility deteriorating. Our main objective is to preserve this beautiful and wonderful piece of Florida history and to continue our artistic and cultural work, keeping the doors open to the community and remain a historical and cultural center for the city of Miami, and the United States of America.