Director’s Preview: February 12th, 6 -8 pm  | Exhibition will run from February 13th through March 22nd, 2015

swing/SPACE/Miami

Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Museum of Art + Design (MOA+D) presents its latest swing/SPACE/miami project with an exhibition by Miami-based artist Alma Leiva. Leiva, an alumni of New World School of the Arts, will create an interactive installation titled Objects of My affection: San Pedro Nos Ve (San Pedro Watches Over Us). A Director’s Preview will be held on Thursday, February 12th 2015 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at MOA+D located within the College’s Historic Freedom Tower. The preview is reserved for museum members, invited guests and MDC/NWSA students. The general public is invited to attend with a five-dollar donation to the Museum. The exhibition will open to the public on Friday, February 13th through March 22nd, 2015. The exhibition and supporting programs are FREE and open the public.
Born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, now living in Miami, Alma Leiva’s recent work is a dialogue between her immigrant generation and the new generation of the city where she was born and which has also sadly taken the role as “the murder capital of the world” in the past three years. The interactive installation will allow visitors to scan QR codes with their smart phones throughout the exhibition allowing them to view recent stories of violence in San Pedro Sula. The video work and site –specific installation offer a deeper look into a city, that for Leiva has in many ways become a no-man’s land.

Alma Leiva received her BFA from New World School of the Arts in 2007 and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011.She has exhibited widely in the US in venues such as The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, N.Y and Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA. She has completed residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT and the Center for Photography, Woodstock, NY. Ms. Leiva is featured in numerous publications including Time Magazine’s Lightbox, Photo District News, Newsweek, Miami New Times, El Nuevo Herald, ArtPulse magazine and the Washington Post. She has also been awarded grants through the New York Foundation for the Arts, College Association of the Arts (CAA), Joan Mitchell Foundation and the Beth Block Foundation.

Providing a platform to honor former alumni who have excelled in their respective artistic careers, the swing/SPACE/miami project and exhibition seriescontinues to foster opportunities for further engagement with the next generations of young and emerging artists. “Since its inception in September, 2013, MDC MOA+D has continued to present the work of outstanding MDC/NWSA visual arts alumni through its swing/SPACE/miami program and exhibition series. These two institutions have nurtured the talents of many accomplished alums who have graduated and who are currently producing work of the highest quality.” said Wanda Texon, Associate Curator, MDC MOA+D and swing/SPACE/miami Coordinator. “The aim of swing/SPACE/miami is to offer these Miami-bred artists a venue – off or on-site at MOA+D to show their work and to present them with the opportunity to reconnect or foster stronger ties to their Miami roots.”