UROP Project

Grupo Puré: Cuban Art In and Outside Cuba 1986 - 2026, an exhibition

Cuban art; biography; international and domestic bi-lingual research; writing

Research Mentor: Kyleelise Holmes Thomas, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Department of Art History, Museum and Cultural Heritage, Fine Arts
Contact Email: kholmesthomas@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to students of all majors interested in art, artists, and/or research and writing.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Friday, September 5
  Start Time: 3:00
  End Time: 3:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/94089685717
• Day: Friday, September 5
  Start Time: 5:00
  End Time: 5:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93219700299

Project Description

The project supports the catalogue portion of a forty-year retrospective of a Cuban artists' collective and the artists' post-collective practices here in the States and abroad, from 1986 to 2026. The exhibition is planned to be organized at an FSU art gallery in 2027. The mentee's work would be published in the exhibition catalogue.

Research Tasks: For the planned exhibition of a former five-member collective of Cuban artists and their individual practices moving forward, the research mentee would research and write a biography for each artist of no more than 150 well-crafted words. The period of investigation ranges from 1986 to 2026. The mentee would compose (1) a summary biography of the collective, and (2) a brief biography for each of the five artists. This would include both research into the artists’ activities abroad and in the U.S. The project aims to ground accompanying essays about the artists’ practices and the significance of the collective. The biographies, as will be the essays, will be presented in English and Spanish. The mentee would benefit from being bilingual in English and Spanish since much of the early writings about the collective will be in Spanish. However, we would work together on translation if the mentee does not already possess that skill. Collecting the data is possible even for non-Spanish language speakers and writers. What is essential is that the mentee has an interest in learning about Cuban art and the desire to create impactful introductions to the collective and the artists’ inclusion in the exhibition. The biographies will be original, and the translations will be done without the use of machine translation, like Google Translate or DeepL. The mentor will support (assist with) this phase of the work, as well as give direction for research.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended, but will train
(1) Research and document activities in the literature and visual media.
(2) Create an annotated bibliography of pertinent sources.
(3) Summarize essential information and document sources.
(4) Write short biographies (150 words or less)
Must have an interest in the following:
Writing that is engaging, informative, and concise, or a willingness to learn these skills.
Willingness to communicate, ask questions, and rely on the mentor for support during all stages of the project.
Knowledge of the Spanish language is helpful but not required. However, the collection of resources presented in Spanish is required.