"Chrysanthemum Dream" Art Exhibit by Jessica Faith Rodriguez

Colombian American artist featured: NEA Big Read celebration

This art exhibit will be featured from December 30, 2022 until February 4, 2023 during library hours.

As part of Broward County Library's National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program, the Library is featuring "Chrysanthemum Dream" art exhibition by Jessica Faith Rodriguez, a Colombian American Artist. This year's NEA Big Read novel is "Infinite Country" by Patricia Engel. The novel takes place in Colombia and the United States. 

Jessica Faith Rodriguez's Biography:
"It all started with my mother, who immigrated to the United States from Colombia when she was the young age of 22. She worked cleaning hotels in Miami Beach as a single mom taking care of my big brother Kiko. My dad, who also immigrated from Colombia at the ripe age of one years old, grew up in the colorful city of North Miami. My parents one day found each other in the 80’s and fell in love, and had me, my brother and baby sister. We grew up in the Cuban American town of Hialeah, Florida where we spent most of our youth fighting like little siblings do over who had control of the remote control. I grew up listening to the tales and
nostalgia from the older generations who immigrated from Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the list goes on … I grew up in a very multicultural community. I had friends from every country and nationality from the Caribbean to South America. We came from humble beginnings, a family of five living in a small apartment, living on meager wages, learning and growing up with our colorful neighbors."

"So maybe it doesn't need to be said, but I am Colombian American. I loved living in Hialeah, growing up with my Cuban American friends. My sister was born in 1990 and she became my little side kick against the boyish bullying from my brother. I danced ballet for 10 years with the Cuban girls, while my sister pretty much followed my footsteps. I attended Norland Middle, a magnet school from 6th to 8th grade for the visual arts, in a predominantly African American school in Miami. It is here where I learned how to practice art, drawing, painting, and photography. I also learned how to be more fun, and spontaneous, for I was a very shy and sensitive little girl. Thanks to the skills I learned in Norland Middle, I was accepted to one of the top ten high schools in the United States, DASH or Design Architecture Senior High. Here is where I studied more in depth about art and film for four years, I graduated in 2006." To learn more of Jessica's story, visit her art exhibit at the Southwest Regional Library during Broward County Library's NEA Big Read program. 

This year's NEA Big Read novel is "Infinite Country" by Patricia Engel. 

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

The Broward Public Library Foundation is a charitable organization incorporated in 1982 committed to enhancing the collections, programs, and services of the Broward County Library beyond the means of public funding. Broward Public Library Foundation is the proud sponsor of the NEA Big Read program striving to achieve a state of excellence throughout the county's family of libraries. 

Indoor, in-person programs will be contingent on Centers for Disease Control benchmark and guidance for low COVID-19 infection rates.

High rates of infection will necessitate cancellation of indoor, in-person programs.

In the event indoor, in-person programs are cancelled, there are many online programs available at https://www.youtube.com/user/browardcountylibrary/videos    

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