Episodio 78: Life in Miami - The Art Scene

Duolingo English for Spanish Speakers Podcast

En un día soleado de diciembre de 1994, Serge Toussaint, de 30 años, bajó de un autobús en Miami.

Se dirigió al barrio donde vivían sus parientes, llamado “Little Haiti”.

A medida que se acercaba, Serge podía oír a la gente hablando criollo haitiano en la calle.

Serge se sintió inmediatamente como en su casa.

I was living in New York City at the time, but I am originally from Haiti.

When my family and I went on vacation to visit relatives in Miami, I was excited because I heard Miami was just like Haiti.

I left the island when I was 12 years old, and I really missed it.

When I arrived in Little Haiti, I saw people selling Haitian food on the streets and playing dominoes.

I saw a woman braiding her daughter’s hair outside her house.

It was a beautiful sight and it inspired me.

That’s when I realized I wanted to paint something like that.

En Nueva York, Serge quería ser pintor.

Escenas como esa de la mujer trenzando, o braiding, el pelo de su hija era lo que amaba pintar.

Pero le costaba ganarse la vida como artista y para mantenerse trabajaba en un restaurante.

Mientras paseaba por los edificios bajos y las coloridas vitrinas de Little Haiti, se dio cuenta de que podía ser el lugar perfecto para hacer realidad su sueño.

It was really cold when I left New York, but when I arrived in Miami, it was so nice and warm.

My dream was to paint big murals on buildings, and I realized that in Miami, I could paint outside during the whole year.

I noticed the walls in Little Haiti were empty, there was no art at all.

All the signs on the stores just had letters and numbers, and they were written in English, but most of the people were speaking Haitian Creole.

That’s when I got the idea to paint signs in Haitian Creole.

Even though I was on vacation, all I could think about was painting my first mural.

Welcome, les damos la bienvenida a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo.

Soy Diana Gameros.

En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

En esta temporada especial del podcast, vamos a Miami, en el estado de Florida donde aprenderemos por qué este lugar es tan especial para sus habitantes.

Hoy te presentamos las historias de dos personas creativas, un pintor y un poeta, quienes ayudaron a cultivar comunidades llenas de vida en Miami.

Nuestro primer narrador es de Haití.

Tal vez notes que a veces no pronuncia el sonido “r” al final y en medio de las palabras.

Por ejemplo, artist suena como “ah-tist” y store suena como “stoh”.

Little Haiti es el corazón de la diáspora haitiana en Miami, justo al norte del centro de la ciudad.

Cuando Serge llegó allí, no podía dejar de pensar en cumplir el sueño de pintar.

Quería decorar las paredes del barrio con pinturas tan coloridas como la comunidad que veía allí.

Así que decidió pedir permiso a su tío, que tenía una tienda de telas, o fabrics, para pintar un mural en su edificio.

My uncle didn’t know what my art looked like, so I needed to convince him that I was going to do a great job.

For inspiration, I looked at one of his books of fabrics, and I saw a picture of a beautiful woman in a dress made of red fabric.

I wanted to advertise what my uncle was selling, so I painted that woman on the wall.

I used bright colors like yellow and red, and I painted the rest of the wall to match the fabric.

Serge se ofreció a pintar el mural de forma gratuita y trabajó rápido.

Pintó el vestido tan bien que parecía estar en movimiento, como si estuviera soplando el viento.

Después de un día intenso, Serge terminó el mural.

Su tío estaba tan contento que insistió en pagarle.

For one mural, my uncle paid me the same amount of money that I earned in one week working in a restaurant! As I finished painting, people started to leave work and drive by the shop.

People in cars shouted things like, “Good job!” And a woman stopped and told me she loved the mural.

She asked me if I could paint a similar one on her women’s clothing store nearby.

I said, “Of course!” The next day, I went to her store with my paints and painted another mural of a woman.

I couldn’t believe it.

I was doing what I always dreamt of doing, and I was making money!

Las vacaciones de Serge estaban a punto de terminar y no quería irse.

Tenía un trabajo y una vida en Nueva York, pero en Miami hacía lo que le gustaba y podía mantenerse.

Así que decidió quedarse, pero sus nuevos planes no le gustaron a todo el mundo.

My family, especially my father, did not want me to stay in Miami or become an artist.

My father was in the military, and he was very traditional.

He wanted me to be in the military too, but I never wanted to do that.

He always said that Haitian families should stay together, so he didn’t want me to be so far away from home.

But I was finally working as an artist! I knew that I had to do what was right for me.

I needed to stay in Miami.

Por primera vez en su vida, Serge estaba solo.

Quería demostrarle a su familia y a sí mismo que podía convertirse en artista.

I was so happy because I was doing what I loved, but my dad was upset.

And he didn’t believe that I could make money as an artist.

He didn’t talk to me for a few years after that.

That made me really sad.

Pero Serge siguió pintando.

Poco a poco, sus murales empezaron a aparecer por todas las vitrinas de Little Haiti, anunciando peluquerías, tiendas y restaurantes.

Cuando Serge empezó a conocer mejor a su nueva comunidad, comenzó a pintar otro tipo de murales.

I realized a lot of the kids with Haitian families in my neighborhood never actually visited Haiti, and they didn’t know important parts of Haitian history.

So I began to paint different kinds of murals.

These new murals told stories about Haiti’s history by showing important people who fought for everyone to be free.

I wanted the kids in my neighborhood to know all about Haitian culture.

I never paint just to paint.

I always tell a story with my work and paint what is important to the community.

I paint my culture to keep it alive.

Con los años, otros artistas de Miami empezaron a seguir el ejemplo de Serge, transformando paredes vacías en arte.

Gracias a su impacto, Little Haiti se estaba llenando de arte.

Tanto allí como en el cercano barrio de Wynwood, en rápido proceso de gentrificación, los viejos almacenes se convirtieron en perfectos lienzos de colores para muchos grafiteros.

When I moved to Miami in the 90s, there wasn’t a lot of art in Wynwood yet.

The neighborhood was full of blank walls.

I was one of the first street artists to begin painting murals there.

But little by little, famous artists from all over the world started coming to Miami to paint on Wynwood’s walls.

A principios de la década de 2000, Miami se convirtió en una verdadera meca del arte callejero.

Y grandes festivales internacionales como Art Basel empezaron a llegar a la ciudad.

El festival se desarrolla durante un fin de semana largo y ofrece a las galerías de arte la oportunidad de exponer y vender obras.

Atrae a miles de turistas y artistas a Miami.

In 2011, Art Basel was happening, and there were lots of artists painting murals in Wynwood.

At the same time, Miami’s professional basketball team, the Miami Heat, was doing well in the national tournament, and the city was excited.

People in Miami love the Miami Heat! So I wanted to paint something to support the team.

Serge empezó a buscar un nuevo espacio para su próximo mural.

Pero no fue fácil porque Wynwood ya estaba lleno de arte callejero.

Un día, paseaba en bicicleta por el barrio cuando vio un taller mecánico con una gigantesca pared blanca.

I walked into the shop and asked the owner if I could paint a mural of the Miami Heat on his wall.

At first, he wasn’t sure.

He said if he didn’t like it, then I needed to cover it with paint.

I agreed and told him not to worry.

Serge dibujó primero a los dos jugadores más famosos del equipo, LeBron James y Dwayne Wade.

Después de unas horas, el dueño del local vino a comprobar el progreso de Serge.

It was just like the time I painted the mural on my uncle’s wall.

The owner walked outside and I saw a smile on his face.

I asked him if he wanted me to cover it with paint, and he said, “No way!” After that, he trusted me to finish the mural.

Tardó una semana en terminar el mural.

Y mientras pintaba bajo el sol, más gente comenzó a fijarse en él.

Art Basel was happening, so there were lots of tourists in Miami, and they came to take pictures with my mural.

The owner of the shop was so happy because his shop was getting a lot of attention.

Soon, the mural was on the news, and the coach of the Miami Heat tweeted a photo of it! Then the Miami Heat invited me to watch their final game, and my seat was on the side of the basketball court! It was an amazing experience.

Cuando Serge mira su estadía en Miami y todo lo que consiguió desde que se mudó allí, hay un momento que sobresale.

Fue en 2004, cuando fue entrevistado por un canal de noticias de televisión sobre su arte.

During the interview, my dad called me.

I was surprised because it was the first time that he called me in years.

So, later, I called him back, and when he answered, I heard my whole family in New York cheering because they just saw me on TV.

My dad told me, “Congratulations!”, and I was so happy that I started to cry.

I knew my dad was upset because I stayed in Miami, so when he told me he was proud of me, it was the best moment of my life.

Para Serge, Miami resultó ser el lugar perfecto para perseguir sus sueños artísticos.

Pero para nuestro siguiente narrador, Scott Cunningham, Miami no fue la primera opción para dedicarse a su arte: la poesía, o poetry.

Hasta que la ciudad le demostró que estaba equivocado.

I grew up in the 1980s in Boca Raton, which is a city north of Miami.

I always loved to read, and as a teenager, I was very interested in poetry.

At the time, South Florida didn’t seem like it had a big community for poetry.

So for a long time, I wanted to live somewhere else.

Scott se fue de Florida para ir a la universidad, e imaginó que se quedaría afuera para siempre.

Pero en 2006 solicitó una vacante en varios programas de máster en poesía y fue aceptado en la Universidad Internacional de Florida en Miami.

Después de mudarse se dio cuenta de que las impresiones que tenía sobre la ciudad eran erróneas.

The artist community in Miami was pretty small at that time, but it was full of energy.

Everyone knew each other, and it kind of felt like a city inside of a city.

I really wanted to be part of that community.

I saw other people doing really creative things, and it seemed like Miami was an amazing place to be an artist.

Scott descubrió la rica tradición poética de la ciudad y a los artistas locales como Donald Justice y Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Pero lo que más lo sorprendió fue la fascinación de la gente de Miami por la poesía.

Most people who live in Miami are from other places.

And a lot of those people are from countries where poetry is an important part of the culture.

For example, I learned that many Cubans grew up reading poems by José Martí, a Cuban poet.

All kinds of people here love poetry and it’s important to them.

As a poet, I thought that was incredible.

I fell in love with Miami and especially the artist community.

Para conocer a otros poetas de Miami, Scott empezó a organizar eventos como noches de micrófono abierto y lecturas de poesía.

Y en 2011 tuvo una idea.

I decided to ask a local art organization to help me bring well-known poets to the city to read their poetry.

They agreed.

Soon, our small local events became something bigger.

With the money from the organization, I could pay poets for their time.

That’s when I had the idea for a poetry festival in Miami.

Scott propuso realizar un festival alrededor de toda la ciudad con la excusa de celebrar el mes nacional de la poesía, que es en abril.

La fundación de arte local apoyó la idea, así que Scott pudo contratar a un pequeño equipo y ponerse en acción.

I love poetry so much, and I believe that it makes our lives better.

So, my team and I wanted to put poetry everywhere in Miami, then everyone in the city could read a poem during the month of April.

There are 3 million people who live here, and they speak a lot of different languages.

There are people from Cuba, Haiti, and many other places.

So, we translated the poetry for all of the Spanish and Haitian Creole speakers.

Scott y su equipo idearon formas poco habituales de acercar la poesía a la gente: hicieron volar poemas detrás de aviones, colocaron otros en las gasolineras e incluso en las cajas de los supermercados.

We wanted everyone to see the poetry and have a special experience.

And it worked! During that first year, the people of Miami told us they liked the festival because it was unique and it made them feel good.

A pesar de las críticas positivas, Scott sentía que ese podía ser un festival en cualquier ciudad, porque mostraba poemas conocidos en todo el mundo.

Y él quería resaltar Miami aún más.

Así que al año siguiente, en lugar de elegir poemas famosos, decidieron presentar algunos escritos por y para locales.

El festival se llamó “O, Miami”, igual que el inicio de un poema de amor escrito a la propia ciudad.

We wanted the festival to celebrate Miami and its people, with live events, community meetings, and poetry in public places.

We also decided to put a poem on a big sign on a busy street, and we thought it should be a poem by someone who lived in that area.

Because we thought everyone in the community had something beautiful and important to say.

El festival creó una novedosa forma artística para que los habitantes de Miami hablaran entre sí sobre quiénes son, de dónde vienen y qué les gusta de su comunidad.

Scott y su equipo empezaron a llegar a todos los barrios.

We asked the different communities in the city to give us ideas for projects for the festival.

We especially wanted ideas from communities that didn’t get a lot of money for art projects.

In Goulds, a historically Black neighborhood, local artists wanted to have a dance performance and a poetry reading on a local basketball court.

The performance was beautiful, and lots of people came from both Goulds and other communities.

Los eventos comunitarios fueron un gran éxito.

Pero Scott y su equipo sabían que más gente de Miami podía compartir su propia poesía.

Así que en el 2015 hicieron un llamado a los ciudadanos para que escribieran poemas cortos sobre sus barrios.

Los ganadores terminarían leyendo su poema en la radio.

When we started receiving poems, it was incredible.

We got so many responses.

People wrote poems about their neighborhoods, and they were all so different and unique, just like Miami.

Scott estaba encantado.

Los poemas estaban amplificando tanto la voz de la gente de Miami como el amor por su ciudad, su hogar.

En 2023 lo llevaron a otro nivel.

El autor del mejor poema vería su poema expuesto en un cartel gigante en el centro de Miami.

The winner was Luz Rossy, a young woman from the Dominican Republic who now lives in Little Havana.

She wrote:

My name came

from my abuela

and

she said

we can share it forever.

Poems like this make the festival so special.

We create spaces for all communities in Miami to use their voices.

And I want people to think of Miami as a place where there are really smart and creative people in every neighborhood.

I also just want everyone to remember that we’re all human, and every person has something important and beautiful to say.

Scott Cunningham es poeta, ensayista y fundador del Festival de Poesía O’Miami.

Es autor del libro Ya te veo y actualmente trabaja en otro libro de poemas sobre Miami.

Nuestro primer protagonista, Serge Toussaint, sigue pintando murales en Little Haiti y por todo Miami.

También continúa involucrado en su comunidad, dando clases de pintura a los niños del Little Haiti Cultural Center.

Este episodio fue producido por Gabriela Saldivia, una periodista que vive en Sevilla, España.