MoCA-Americas Brings Landmark Exhibition to Marco Island in Cultural Exchange Across Coasts. On May 5, 2025, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas (MoCA-Americas) opens a new chapter in its ongoing mission to foster cultural exchange across the hemisphere by launching a landmark collaborative exhibition at the Marco Island Center for the Arts. Running through July 1, this exhibition marks a rare and important opportunity for audiences on Florida’s southwest coast to experience highlights from MoCAA’s growing permanent collection. Featuring an intergenerational group of Latin American and Caribbean artists, the show is part of a long-term institutional exchange between both organizations, one that aims to strengthen the visibility of underrepresented artistic narratives while bridging diverse communities through the power of contemporary art. For MoCA-Americas—a museum known for its agility, inclusiveness, and bold programming—the initiative also allows for the activation of works that are not often exhibited due to the institution’s constant rotation of new voices and thematic explorations. By bringing these artists and their works to Marco Island, this project exemplifies the museum’s commitment to deepening access, honoring legacy, and expanding its reach across the state and beyond.
Curated by Lisset Llorens as part of MoCAA’s acclaimed Art Tour program, the exhibition presents a compelling selection of 15 artists whose practices span generations and geographies. The dialogue between established icons and emerging voices generates a dynamic narrative that reflects the evolution of Latin American and Caribbean art. Viewers will encounter a spectrum of styles, materials, and conceptual approaches—ranging from politically charged figuration to poetic abstraction—offering a layered reading of the region’s visual languages.
Among the featured artists are key figures such as Antonia Eiriz, Amelia Peláez, and Cundo Bermúdez, whose historical relevance and aesthetic contributions remain foundational to Cuban modernism. Their works, seldom on view due to the museum's evolving programming priorities, gain renewed resonance in this context. Alongside them, contemporary voices like Pedro Pablo Oliva, Rafael Zarza, and Luis Cruz Azaceta offer insight into the challenges and transformations of the post-revolutionary generation. Meanwhile, artists such as Milena Martínez Pedrosa, Leticia Sánchez Toledo, and Mónica Batard bring fresh urgency and experimentation to the curatorial narrative.
While MoCA-Americas is a modest institution in size, it has gained recognition for its ambitious programming, interdisciplinary collaborations, and capacity to build meaningful connections with artists and institutions across the hemisphere. This exhibition exemplifies the museum’s strategic vision to cultivate lasting partnerships and broaden the reach of its collection beyond its home base in Miami. By presenting these works in Marco Island—a coastal city with cultural parallels to its own—the museum reinforces its role as a bridge between communities, generations, and artistic visions.
More than a traveling show, this initiative serves as an act of curatorial diplomacy: a gesture of exchange that invites reflection on migration, memory, resilience, and identity. Through this temporary relocation of its collection, MoCA-Americas reactivates works that speak to both individual and collective histories, reaffirming the capacity of art to move between spaces and still retain its power to connect, challenge, and inspire.
