Elvis Fuentes: Revamping Coral Gables Museum to better reflect the city

Elvis Fuentes was announced as executive director of the Coral Gables Museum in March 2022, and he since has rolled out an extensive plan to elevate the institution to be accredited by the American Association of Museums and to grow its digital footprint and collection.

Mr. Fuentes was a Ph.D. curatorial fellow at the Department of Russian and Soviet Nonconformist Art at Rutgers University and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum. He also enjoys an extensive career as a curator in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York. He won the Grand Prix of the 26th Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Arts with the curatorial project, “Print as Metaphor,” in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

As executive director of the Coral Gables Museum, Mr. Fuentes secured $97,500 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to bring there a Ukrainian art exhibition.

The Coral Gables Museum was developed in 2003 as a nonprofit under the leadership of the city but as an independent entity that would inhabit the renovated building that consists of the 3,000-square-foot Fewell Gallery, a 5,000-square-foot public plaza, and a courtyard, aside from the historic building, which was home to the old police and fire station.

The museum opened in 2010 and a year later began exhibiting. In 2013, it also became the city’s official visitor center.

“There is a global connection to the city of Coral Gables,” he said. “We want to position the museum as an institution that can contribute to the conservation about what it means to live in the city.”

Mr. Fuentes spoke with Miami Today reporter Monica Correa.

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