In 2013, Liz Dimmitt and Claudia Miyar curated The Cuban Collection for Artstar, an online gallery, featuring a body of works by Cuban artists including Franklin Alvarez, Aluan Arguelles, Pablo Cano, Liset Castillo, Jose Iraola, Armando Marino, Ibrahim Miranda, Ernesto Oroza, Geandy Pavon Sandra Ramos and Lydia Rubio. Cuba is a powerful force, evoking mixed sentiments of nostalgia, mystery, longing and hope. Its art often references these complicated emotions and the island’s tumultuous history. Common threads among the artists’ work include: influences from the Spanish colonial and Afro-Cuban heritages, references to isolation and political repression, deprivation and making do with very little, a reliance on the ingenuity and spirit of the Cuban people and romanticizing the past. These themes are often addressed with exacting subtlety, imbuing the work with meaning by the artists’ efforts to communicate their truth without alarming Cuba’s strict Communist government. With The Cuban Collection we aim to reflect the current trends coming out of the island and give voice to artists in the diaspora, while also paying homage to our own Cuban connections.