Old Havana gala celebrates Gables Museum & new exhibit

November 13th, 2012
'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Museum board members Ramona Busot and Aldo Busot with a costumed entertainer.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Honorary Chair Emilio Estefan.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Emilio Estefan, Mrs. Ortiz and Hector Ortiz, senior vice president and CFO of Bacardi Americas.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Event Chair Marie Vacca and James Brennan.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Jorge Hernandez, Arva Moore Parks, Allan Shulman, Christine Rupp and Robert Furniss-Roe, Bacardi USA President.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Bacardi USA President Robert Furniss-Roe and event chair Emilio Estefan.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Former Bacardi President Eduardo Sardina and Emilio Estefan.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Robert McCabe and Coral Gables Museum Chair Arva Moore Parks.

'Night in Old Havana' gala benefits Coral Gables Museum

Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason and Carmen Cason with a costumed entertainer.

Museum board members Ramona Busot and Aldo Busot with a costumed entertainer.Honorary Chair Emilio Estefan.Emilio Estefan, Mrs. Ortiz and Hector Ortiz, senior vice president and CFO of Bacardi Americas.Event Chair Marie Vacca and James Brennan.Jorge Hernandez, Arva Moore Parks, Allan Shulman, Christine Rupp and Robert Furniss-Roe, Bacardi USA President.Bacardi USA President Robert Furniss-Roe and event chair Emilio Estefan.Former Bacardi President Eduardo Sardina and Emilio Estefan.Robert McCabe and Coral Gables Museum Chair Arva Moore Parks.Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason and Carmen Cason with a costumed entertainer.

Guests relived Havana in its heyday Friday night, Nov. 9, at the Biltmore Hotel, where they celebrated the Coral Gables Museum’s anniversary and newest exhibit, Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art and Identity.

Attracting a sellout crowd of 275 patrons, “Paradise Under the Stars: A Night in Old Havana” began with a festive reception featuring a Bacardi bar, the Son Tres Trio, cigar señoritas and a variety of tapas.

A colorful conga line led guests to the Biltmore’s Country Club Ballroom, which had been transformed for the evening into the legendary Tropicana nightclub in Old Havana.

The finely attired patrons enjoyed a sumptuous tropical Cuban dinner before the New Century Dance Company presented a dazzling floorshow, which inspired guests to dance the night away to the Carlos Oliva Band.

Honorary chairman was Emilio Estefan; event chair was Marie Vacca. Special prizes included tickets for a trip to Puerto Rico with spa hotel accommodations and a Bacardi facility tour.

All proceeds benefitted the Coral Gables Museum, 285 Aragon Ave., which opened on Oct. 10, 2010, and debuted its first major exhibits in October 2011.

Its newest major exhibit, Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art and Identity, opens at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 14, with guest curator Allan Shulman, professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Miami. The collection, housed in the museum’s grand Fewell Gallery, is organized chronologically around the stages of the company’s development.

This marks the first time that this rich and diverse material — over 300 objects and images — has been assembled in a major exhibition. Pieces in the exhibit were gathered from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Canada, Spain, Martinique, Bermuda, the United Kingdom and the Bahamas.

Building Bacardi remains on view through Feb. 17.