PAST PROJECT

Zaydee Martinez

Zaydee Martinez holds a M.F.A. from the University of Miami and B.F.A. from Florida International University. Her work is in the collection of the Lowe Art Museum in Coral Gables, Florida International University (three locations) in Miami, and several private collectors.

Joe Nicastri

Joe Nicastri is a painter and sculptor who resides in Miami, Florida. Over the past thirty years, he has exhibited his paintings and sculpture in major galleries and museums across the country. His work is represented in many public and private collections. Public collections include the Chicago Art Institute, Cleveland Museum, Philadelphia Museum, Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee, Clark University, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The University of Missouri, the University of Florida, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and The Sephardic Synagogue of Turnberry. Private collections include Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Charles Bronfman, Kirk Landon, Jim Clark, Martin Z. Margulies, Gerry Gaston, Marvin Ross Friedman and many, many others. His work has been represented in such notable galleries as OK Harris, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Jason McCoy Inc., and Gerald Peters Gallery.

Presently, Joe Nicastri is represented by the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, The Claudia Marr Gallery in Santa Fe, The Karen Lynne Gallery in Boca Raton, and the Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery in New York.

Among the numerous portraits Joe Nicastri has painted are Lee Hills, Charles Bronfman, Ed and Suzi Elson, Gerry Gaston and family, Matt Gaston, Sherri Bronfman, Maureen and George Collins, Billy Graham and many, many more. Mr. Nicastri has a long and continuing history with the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as advisor, juror, and most notably, he is the founder of NFFA's Fellowships in Visual Arts program (FIVA).

From 1990 to 2000, Mr. Nicastri devoted himself to issues of human rights and man's inhumanity to man through his artwork. This profound body of work, entitled "Surplus of Memory," has been exhibited in more than 10 major museums over the past five years, among them: Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Hebrew Union College at NYU, New York; Fotouhi Cramer Gallery, NY; Center for Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA; Van-Pelt Dietrich Library of the Rosenwald Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania; PA: and the Mizel Museum of Judaica, Denver, CO. Mr. Nicastri conducts conflict resolution workshops in the communities where his work is exhibited. Twenty sculptures from the "Surplus of Memory" collection form the core of the permanent collection of contemporary Holocaust and human rights artwork of the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

www.joenicastriart.com

Laura Tan

Laura Tan is a visual artist who works primarily with oil paint, mixed media, drawing, watercolor and collage.

Ms. Tan has worked as a professional artist for over 20 years. Her work has been exhibited in group and museum shows, most recently in 2012 at the Centre Gallery of Miami-Dade College's Wolfson Campus in "The SWEAT Broadsheet Collaboration," Bridge Red Studios/Project Space, North Miami, Florida, and the Boca Raton Museum's "61st Annual Juried All Florida Exhibition and Competition." Ms. Tan, a recipient of The Florida Individual Fellowship Grant, has had her work exhibited at the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL; The Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL; Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Clearwater, FL; Metro-Dade Cultural Resource Center, Miami, FL; Collage of the Americas Gallery, Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Coral Springs, FL.

Laura Tan is also a dedicated art teacher since 1989, beginning with the New World School of the Arts in Miami, where she was an early adjunct faculty member. Subsequent teaching assignments include Foundations Drawing, Painting and 2D Design at New World School of the Arts, University of Miami and at Florida International University. In 2012 she was selected as a Region Finalist for '2012 Rookie Teacher of the Year,' for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Ms. Tan earned both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Fine Art from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

www.lauratanart.com