Meet the Artists
Carmen Portela
Carmen left her native Cuba and came to the United States in the 1960s. Since then, she has worked as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, running her own nonprofit Hands in Action from 1987 to 2006. She has been painting since the 1970s, and her first expose was held in 2001.
Graciella Campo
Graciella Casabuena Campo was born in Havana, Cuba. Daughter of a Cuban senator, she left the island with her parents in 1961 to Miami, Florida. After graduating from college, she worked for Lacsa Airlines for 27 years traveling the world. Graciella has been a self-taught acrylic painter since the 1970s. Now married and retired with two daughters and seven grandchildren, painting is her passion.
Lillian W.
Davis
Born in Mexico City, Lillian has lived in the United States since the late 1970s. After retiring from accounting, she decided to follow the creative path. Some of her paintings have deep metaphysical meanings while others show the simple way of life. She mostly employs oils and mixed media.
Luisa "Beba"
Portela-Perez
Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Luisa began painting at the age of 8. She has been painting as a hobby her mentor Maestro Edin Gutierrez.
Mario "Mayi"
Súarez-Viera
Mario was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States at the age of 12. In his thirties, Mario started writing music as a hobby. Years later, two of his songs were published in Mexico and Brazil.
After retiring in 2016, he was looking for a hobby and began taking painting classes with Maestro Edin Gutierrez. Mario prefers working with acrylics expressing his art through a combination of vibrant colors, geometric shapes and texture.