The Coral Gables Museum is now hosting the following five exhibitions:

March 8 – June 23, 2013
in the Robert and Marian Fewell Gallery
curated by Chloe Chelz

The Vespa scooter. Few objects represent Italy with such immediacy, communicating both the boom in industrial production that would lift a generation of Italians out of post-war poverty, while also representing a romantic dream of the country to an American audience captured by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck’s characters in the film Roman Holiday (1953). Translated as “wasp” in Italian for its distinctive shape and sound, the Vespa has retained its popularity as both a practical mode of transportation and an object that has inspired and influenced successive generations of both Italian and American consumers and tastemakers.

Throughout the twentieth century, Italian design and the phrase “Made in Italy” developed a particular kind of significance – that of quality, sophistication and above all, elegance – which continues to resonate today. The exhibition Italy in Motion, curated by Chloe Chelz, focuses on design and mobility, employing the overlapping themes of Style, Velocity and Identity. As objects of material culture, cars, motorcycles, scooters and bicycles as well as historical and contemporary photographs illustrate how the country’s design legacies have transcended function to become defining symbols of both industry and imagination.

CREATING THE DREAM:
GEORGE MERRICK AND HIS VISION FOR CORAL GABLES

The new Coral Gables Museum’s introductory exhibit sets the stage for what will follow. It highlights the genius of George Merrick, his family and other visionaries who inspired him and helped him turn his dream into reality. Curated by Arva Moore Parks, designed by Tom Graboski and fabricated by SFY Architectural Signs and Displays, it is housed in The Coral Gables Galleries — five rooms that were once the Coral Gables Police and Fire Station jail. Now beautifully restored, the rooms provide an intimate space to tell the story from the beginning.

CORAL GABLES SISTER CITIES:
Partners in Peace
Curated by Caroline Parker-Santiago
In the Perrin International Reception Hall

The exhibition, Coral Gables’ Sister Cities: Partners in Peace, is dedicated to the City of Coral Gables’ beloved sister cities and the sister cities movement launched by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Visitors are invited to learn about the history of this international peace program and uncover the connections between Coral Gables and her sister cities: Aix-en-Provence, France; Cartagena, Colombia; Granada, Spain; La Antigua, Guatemala; and Province of Pisa, Italy.

Images and text will tell the story of our nation in a Cold War environment and how Eisenhower, with his extensive wartime experience and leadership abilities, rallied the public to reach out to citizens of other nations in an effort to promote cultural understanding and world peace. "I hate war”, he said, “as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity." Each of the five sister cities will be represented through photographs, objects, explanatory text, videos, books, maps, and other media. A research library will be available for those visitors interested in learning more about a particular sister city.

Thomas A. Spain: A Retrospective (1980-2012)
May 3 - June 30, 2013
In Gallery 109

Architect and artist Thomas A. Spain is a master visual interpreter of architectural structures and places. As a professor of architectural design and drawing at University of Miami's School of Architecture since 1966, Spain's impact is felt throughout UM, Coral Gables and beyond. This exhibit presents a 30 year retrospective of Spain's pencil, pen and ink, watercolor and chalk pastel drawings, featuring selections from six distinct series of works, including the public premiere of two recent bodies of work, Backs and Natural and the Man-Made.

Afghanistan 1970 - 1975 Images from an Era of Peace
Photographs, Tales and Travelogues from The Heart of Central Asia
June 7 - June 22, 2013
in the Community Meeting Room

Solutions for Afghanistan's future may lie in our ability to look back at an era in its recent past when the nation was at peace. Through the examination of over 30 photographs by Joseph Hoyt, we are reminded of a time of open borders, a bustling economy, and a generous and welcoming people. Hoyt's monochrome images present Afghanistan as it once was - a destination for adventurous travelers, holding tight to its traditions while welcoming those who marveled at them. Taken nearly forty years ago, this collection shows the vibrancy and nuance of an ancient culture nearly lost to decades of war and political turmoil.

Hoyt shows us the towering Buddhas of Bamiyan, carved by resident Buddhist monks out of sandstone cliffs in 500 AD, and skilled tradesmen plying their craft in busy bazaars. In his landscape images, villages of mud huts echo the steep mountain peaks of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush that rise from the surrounding desert.