Art was presented as a catalyst for global change, resonating across boundaries and cultures, and inspiring collaborative efforts toward a brighter future. This vision echoed the ongoing work of both MoCA-Americas and the Fine Arts Ceramic Center. Aligned with the event’s central theme and Caichiolo’s curatorial vision, the Museum and Ceramic Center presented to the Palm Beach artistic community a striking selection from their extensive collection of ceramic plates—arguably one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Dozens of artists, working through the Fine Arts Ceramic Center adjacent to the museum, had created extraordinary pieces that have since been exhibited at cultural institutions across the country.
The collection was organized into three main categories: original ceramic plates—each one unique—murals composed of painted ceramic tiles, and individual sculptural works and installations.
While most of the plates were originally created by Cuban artists, more recent years (2023–2024) saw contributions from artists across the Americas. The collection, which now includes nearly a thousand unique plates by over one hundred artists, captured the attention of both experts and the general public. Each work was hand-painted and fired at the Ceramic Center’s on-site kilns.
Among the many artists featured in the collection were nationally and internationally recognized names such as Gustavo Acosta, José Bedia, Carlos Cárdenas, Humberto Castro, Carlos Estévez, Ivonne Ferrer, José Franco, Lia Galletti, Aimée García, Carlos Luna, Milena Martínez Pedrosa, Rigoberto Mena, Amelia Peláez, Esterio Segura, Alfredo Sosabravo, and Rubén Torres Llorca, among many others. In total, 97 artists had contributed, most of them creating between four and twelve original pieces.
The Fine Arts Ceramic Center itself was founded in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a dual purpose: to promote the use of traditional ceramic techniques among Cuban artists linked to the Rodríguez Collection, and to offer them an opportunity to create small-scale works that could be sold in times of isolation and economic uncertainty. In May of that year, collector Leonardo Rodríguez—founder of the Kendall Art Center, now MoCA-Americas—invited fifty collaborating artists to participate in this ceramic project, which began primarily with plates. The initiative also sought to explore ceramics beyond its conventional utilitarian or decorative roles.
This first call resulted in the creation of dozens of valuable works. Although diverse in style and background, all the artists shared a common challenge: they were primarily painters who now had to translate their practice into an unfamiliar medium—working with clay, glazes, and a firing process that required adaptation.
The production of nearly five hundred ceramic plates in that initial period sparked widespread interest in reviving a tradition that, while not forgotten, was being left behind by newer generations.
The collection was first presented to the public in November 2020 at the Kendall Art Center through the exhibition Fine Arts on the Plate, inaugurated on Friday, November 27, with nearly 200 attendees, including artists, families, and art enthusiasts from across Miami-Dade County. That opening marked the founding event of the Fine Arts Ceramic Center.
Since then, the collection has continued to grow and has been showcased in a variety of venues. Notable exhibitions include Artists Set the Table, which opened on February 19, 2023, at Pinecrest Garden Art and Recreation Park, and Beyond the Plate, presented at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona on May 7, 2022, after its debut at the Sidney Berne & Davis Art Center in 2021. The momentum has only accelerated, with works from the collection featured across the state of Florida and beyond—including a prominent showing at NCECA 2024—affirming its national relevance and expanding its impact on the contemporary ceramic arts scene.
This first call resulted in the creation of dozens of valuable works. Although diverse in style and background, all the artists shared a common challenge: they were primarily painters who now had to translate their practice into an unfamiliar medium—working with clay, glazes, and a firing process that required adaptation.
The production of nearly five hundred ceramic plates in that initial period sparked widespread interest in reviving a tradition that, while not forgotten, was being left behind by newer generations.
The collection was first presented to the public in November 2020 at the Kendall Art Center through the exhibition Fine Arts on the Plate, inaugurated on Friday, November 27, with nearly 200 attendees, including artists, families, and art enthusiasts from across Miami-Dade County. That opening marked the founding event of the Fine Arts Ceramic Center.
Since then, the collection has continued to grow and has been showcased in a variety of venues. Notable exhibitions include Artists Set the Table, which opened on February 19, 2023, at Pinecrest Garden Art and Recreation Park, and Beyond the Plate, presented at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona on May 7, 2022, after its debut at the Sidney Berne & Davis Art Center in 2021. The momentum has only accelerated, with works from the collection featured across the state of Florida and beyond—including a prominent showing at NCECA 2024—affirming its national relevance and expanding its impact on the contemporary ceramic arts scene.
This exhibition is made possible thanks to the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.
The Kendall Art Cultural Center (KACC), dedicated the past six years to the preservation and promotion of contemporary art and artists, and to the exchange of art and ideas throughout Miami and South Florida, as well as abroad. Through an energetic calendar of exhibitions, programs, and its collections, KACC provides an international platform for the work of established and emerging artists, advancing public appreciation and understanding of contemporary art.
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The Rodríguez collection is a blueprint of Cuban art and its diaspora. Within the context of the new MoCA-Americas the collection becomes an invaluable visual source for Diaspora identity. It represents a different approach to art history to try to better understand where we come from to better know where we are heading.
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