Batista’s father came to the United
States from Cuba to attend high school. He then went to the University of Florida and earned a master’s degree in soil science. Randy was born in the United States, but spent much of his childhood in Cuba, moving there with his family in 1954, a year after the start of the revolution. “We had nothing. Food would be served to us on paper from a magazine because we had no plates. People were drinking sugar water for nutrition. They were frying leaves and washing their hands with the ashes because there was no soap,” said Batista. He became part of Operation
Pedro Pan, a program that airlifted more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States between 1960 and 1962. As an adult, Randy Batista owned
and operated a successful photography studio for years in Gainesville. He now spends much of his time using his art to give back to a community that has enriched his life. In 2000, he pho- tographed 20 women in their favorite chairs for an exhibit to raise money for the Alachua County Organization for Rural Needs (ACORN) to buy mam- mograms. These were high-profile women of the community who he knew would generate interest and bring people to the exhibit. “Then I talked to the radiologist groups and they dropped the price of their mam- mograms through ACORN from $125 to $55. That meant that when people bought a ticket to the exhibit they were actually buying a woman a mammo- gram,” said Batista. The exhibit raised $20,000, and five years later, ACORN asked Batista for a repeat performance. Sole Sister was his photography exhib- it celebrating women’s love for shoes, and raised more than $60,000 for mammograms. Batista’s creative energy and com-
munity connections are now fueling his latest and largest outreach, Bulla Cubana, a three-month-long citywide effort in Gainesville to promote Cuban art, history, talent and life. “In spite of all the poverty, Cubans never gave up their love for the arts. It is extremely important to them,” said Batista. Bulla
50 THE NEW BARKER
Cubana will celebrate the Cuban cul- ture in Gainesville with contributions from artists from Cuba and around Latin America. Ultimately, Randy’s goal for Bulla Cubana is not only to enter- tain and educate the residents of Gainesville, but also to put the city on the map as a cultural destination. He intends to make sure there is
room for some of the city’s most underprivileged residents to enjoy the arts. And for some of the more expen- sive Bulla Cubana exhibits, he will pro- vide free tickets to the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club. “Giving kids the opportunity to partake in events like this is so important,” said Batista.
U Guapo.
Sombra.
Campesino (above). La Familia (below).
Siempre fiel - Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón was founded in 1878 in Havana. One of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world, there are more than 800,000 graves and one million interments. The legend behind the gravesite pictured above is that the forever faithful dog followed the hearse of his mistress to the cemetery and remained at her gravesite until the day he died. The sculpture was imported from Italy.
www.TheNewBarker.com
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