¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lee Ortega, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Phone: 305.673.7530
Fax: 305.674.5475
E-mail: lortega@bassmuseum.org

¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz
-Gertrude Silverstone Muss Gallery-
May 17 - August 19, 2007

Miami Beach - (October 3, 2006) – The traveling exhibition ¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz will open to the public at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach on May 17, 2007. The exhibition explores the life of legendary Cuban-born singer Celia Cruz (1925 – 2003) and her world-wide influence on music and culture.

Over the course of a career that spanned six decades and took her from humble beginnings in Havana, Cuba, to a world-renowned artist, Cruz became the undisputed “Queen of Latin Music.” Combining a piercing and powerful voice with a larger-than-life personality and stage costumes, she was one of the few women to succeed in the male-dominated world of Salsa music. Salsa is music born in New York City of Cuban and other Afro-Caribbean mixed musical genres. In her personification of Salsa, Cruz came to represent all Latinos and the Hispanic diaspora.

The exhibition, organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, made its debut in Washington, D.C. ¡Azúcar! highlights important moments in Cruz’s life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, rare footage, and music. The show will include items from her childhood and early appearances with the band, La Sonora Matancera, in Cuba. Among the featured costumes will be a dress from a 1950s performance in Cuba and the dress she wore at her last public appearance, designed by Narciso Rodríguez.

¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruzhas been organized by the National Museum of American History. ¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz has been made possible by National Sponsor Morgan Stanley with additional support from the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Local support provided by Telemundo 51, NBC 6 and MICCOSUKEE RESORT & GAMING.

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Bass Museum of Art
2121 Park Avenue (in Collins Park), Miami Beach, Florida 33139 T: 305.673.7530
F: 305.674.5475 www.bassmuseum.org

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The Bass Museum of Art receives both public and private general operating funding. Major support comes from the City of Miami Beach, with the support of the Mayor and Commissioners of the City of Miami Beach and Friends of the Bass Museum, Inc. This project is also supported by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts; and the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program and Cultural Arts Council.