More than 45 artists and art professors will be honored as part of the celebration of 40 years of light arts, including the prominent Cuban artist José Bedia, who will receive the 2025 Michael Richards Award. Today, we welcome this renowned painter and also Nuria Richards, the director of development for Oolite Arts. Welcome! What a pleasure to have you here with us. Well, José, tell us what this award means to you in your artistic career? For me, this is a great honor. It’s a great honor to receive this award because it recognizes so many years of experience, something I really didn’t expect. And it’s my contribution to the community. In a way, after all these years. Nuria, how did you choose the artists who will be honored? We have a group of nominators specifically for the Michael Richards Award, which is the most prestigious, and we have a jury specializing in each of the areas, including film. For the rest of the creators, Okay, guys, when is the awards ceremony? If the people watching want to join us, what should they do? If they want to join us, they can support us by making a donation, because we’re currently sold out. We’re going to celebrate tomorrow with the artists, including José, at the IC in Miami, in the former Espacio de la Cruz, at 6:00 p.m. Congratulations. So, what do you expect from this evening, from this recognition? I hope to be surrounded by friends and people who respect my work and to be able to use the award properly. Okay, you’ve brought us two examples of your work here. Tell us a little about what inspires you, what it means, what you want to convey. Okay, these two works were asked to be brought to me. They are smaller works on paper, amate, paper, amate. It’s a paper handmade by the Otomi indigenous people of Mexico, from the mountains of Puebla. It’s the only group still making pre-Hispanic paper, which is what pre-Columbian codices were made with, and in a way, I’m working on that paper, following that tradition. So, there are two themes that have to do with Afro-Cuban culture. It’s a couple, or a woman and a man. They’re like mythological characters that have to do with Afro-Cuban tradition. They have names in the Bantu language and are like nature deities with plants growing out of their shoulders. I love this because even though you mention that it’s from you Cubans, I feel like all Latinos come to identify with it. Well, maestro, many successes and a quick piece of advice for all those who are watching us and who say they want to dedicate themselves to art but are afraid. What do you say? Well, give it a go, it’s worth it. Of course, right, Nuria? It’s also worth it? Of course. Well, thank you very much for having joined us.
