Miami Mosaics

Interview with Rosa SugrañesOriginally from Spain, Rosa Sugrañes has made Miami her home. She is founder and Chairman of one of the largest distributors of ceramic tile, marble and stone in the Southeast that established in the city in 1980. Her leadership is not limited to the corporate world, as she is also a member of the FIU Foundation Board of Trustees and a member of the University’s Executive Committee since the 1990’s. Rosa Sugrañes is also well known among Miami’s art community for her contribution to the cultural growth of the city. As a Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, she believes in her vision of Miami as the Cultural Capital of the Americas. MAG briefly spoke to Rosa Sugrañes to know about the latest developments in the arts. MAG: How did Rosa Sugrañes got first involved with the arts? Rosa Sugrañes: My mother is an artist and I am from Barcelona, Spain a country with 2,000 years of history and culture. MAG: How do you think the arts are contributing to the growth of Miami? RS: The arts are contributing a lot, we are gaining depth and quality as a city. People all over the world are recognizing it, like the organizers of Art Basel Miami Beach, or the organizers of the International Theater Festival. They chose Miami as the new city to export their events. MAG: Many programs and strategies are being implemented to develop the arts in the city. How do you evaluate the response among our art organizations and private businesses? RS: The cultural affairs department of Miami-Dade County is supporting more than 600 non for profit organizations every year. We give grants in an open competitive process. This support is fundamental because it triggers support from private business. MAG: Having better artists is a key factor for the success of any art community. What do you think is the roll of the artists in the development of the arts in Miami? RS: The artists represent the soul of our community and their success means our success. It is very important that as a city we are exciting enough to keep our artist here! and they are staying more and more. Miami needs their artist to stay and succeed. We all gain! MAG: Miami has undoubtedly become an art city. What, in your opinion, should be done to keep spreading and consolidating this notion outside the area? RS: We need to keep developing audiences. We need to make our young arts institutions financially sound and strong. We need to develop endowments to assure continuity to our great creative groups. MAG: Which events will highlight our cultural achievements in 2006? RS: Without any doubt the opening of the Performing Arts Center.