Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with Demi
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.demi97
- Creators:
-
Demi, 1955-Martínez, Juan A.
- Dates:
-
1997 November 20
- Languages:
-
Interview is in Spanish.
- Physical Description:
-
22 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An interview of Demi conducted 1997 November 20, by Juan A. Martínez, in Demi's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Demi speaks of her birthplace, Camaguey, Cuba; the death of her father in 1960, and being sent to Puerto Rico in 1971; her move to New York, and arrival in Miami in 1978; her theater studies at Miami Dade Community College. She recalls an opening at the Meeting Point Gallery in Coral Gables in 1980, where she met her husband, painter Arturo Rodriguez. She talks about her first painting in 1984, the role Arturo plays in her life, her first exhibition at the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture in 1987, and the importance of touching the human spirit.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Demi (1955- ) is a painter from Miami, Florida. Demi (who uses only her first name) is a self-taught artist born in Cuba. Her husband is the painter Arturo Rodriguez.
Administration
Sponsor
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. The translation of this interview transcript was provided by Oksana Salamatina.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Digital Content
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 9 min.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Painters -- Florida -- Miami | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Latino and Latin American artists | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Cuban American art | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Cuban American artists | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Art, Modern | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Self-taught artists | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Women artists | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Women painters | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Rodríguez, Arturo, 1956- | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions