MDC Embraces the Arts, is Loved in Return
By Oscar Corral, The Miami Herald
Mar. 7–A self-described former “gang-banger,” Joe Wegens Mathis decided a year ago that he’d had enough of the street life and enrolled in Miami Dade College for film classes.
Mathis, who had part of a street music group called Y&D — Young and Dangerous — had been arrested several times for burglaries and theft, he said, before joining a church and starting college.
Today, he’s learning to shoot and edit video to interpret his outlook for the masses. With a love of movies and music, particularly hip-hop, Mathis said he is eager to capture a side of Miami that most people never see.
“I never really wanted to live that life, the street life,” the 26-year-old said during a break from film class at MDC’s North Campus. “Something turned me toward Miami Dade, and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
MDC and students like Mathis make up one of Miami’s cultural juggernauts, say university executives, supporters and students. From the Miami Book Fair International to the Miami International Film Festival currently under way, MDC has assumed control of some of the community’s landmark cultural events, while continuing to open doors to artistically minded students who can’t afford a private arts college.
“I always tell people that Miami is a young city, but it’s incredible what it has accomplished with its culture in a generation,” said MDC alumnus and music mogul Emilio Estefan. “The immigrants and the poor, those are the more handicapped, and Miami Dade has a positive influence on them, and opens the doors to culture for them.”
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the film festival, the only major film festival hosted by an institution of higher education. But while many will see the final products of professional filmmakers, MDC is quietly nurturing the skills that drive the budding film, television and theater scene in Miami, said Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron. The college offers some of the most affordable acting, video and production classes in town, and students take advantage, packing film-related and acting classes.
Just last week, MDC announced a new partnership with the Spanish language media giant Televisa to collaborate on the Televisa Centre for Film and Television Production at MDC’s North Campus. The program, scheduled to start in the fall, will give the college access to top industry experts, state-of-the-art technology and internships and study abroad programs — and a $1 million donation.
“We are extremely excited about it,” said MDC film professor Ece Karayalcin. “It’s going to provide us with a lot of excellent resources and give us more visibility.”
Yet, in contrast, the college recently pulled the plug on its highly anticipated Arts & Humanities Center, which was to be built on prime property on Biscayne Boulevard next to the Freedom Tower. The college wanted to partner with a private developer for a mixed-used building. But MDC canceled the concept because school officials said they can’t afford it in this market and with the state slashing higher education funding, Padron said.
On a recent evening, acting professor Lilliam Vega corraled her excited students, clad in retro colonial garb, onto the stage of the Prometeo Theater in MDC’s downtown Wolfson Campus. Unlike most university acting classes in the United States, this one was conducted entirely in Spanish.
“This is an experiment,” Vega said. “This is our first year with this program. They are from different countries. They are Hispanic. They speak English very bad, like me. But they want to be actors.”
Spanish-speaking actors fill the local demand for telenovelas, commercials and theater driven by Spanish-language networks such as Univision and Telemundo, which are headquartered in Miami. MDC created a partnership a few years back in which the college trains writers to develop telenovelas.
Alejandra Ochoa, 26, a native of Honduras, is taking the acting class in hopes of breaking through as an actress. She’s already acted in a couple of independent films out of Miami and is fluent in English.
“Miami Dade nourishes the need for culture that there is in this city,” Ochoa said during a break from class recently. She was dressed as Manola, a character in the play Rosita La Soltera by the late Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. “In my case, it has helped me tremendously to nourish my desire and my passion for acting and the arts.”
Padron said the college has “democratized the arts” in Miami, offering lower-income students an opportunity to hone their skills and talents, which fuels Miami’s cultural renaissance. The school sponsors a well-known speakers’ series and an art gallery system featuring student exhibits.
“Sometimes the arts have an elitist edge, but we make the arts accessible to everyone,” Padron said. “We set an example for the city and nationally by giving a chance to new artists.”
Alberto Ibarguen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and former Miami Herald publisher, said the college plays a critical role for immigrants and locals alike looking to better themselves. And it represents a common thread that brings people from all backgrounds together.
“People who make decisions about who we are and how we think and what we believe were educated and influenced at MDC,” Ibarguen said in an e-mail. “We at the Knight Foundation are proud to sponsor the juried prizes for the [film] festival because of the quality of the films. But we’re really pleased to support it because of how it brings a diverse community together.”
Estefan remembers working a job during the day and attending school at Miami Dade College at night when he was a poor young Cuban immigrant trying to get his bearings in a new country. He says Padron and the college are two of the major engines driving Miami’s cultural profile nationally and internationally.
“Miami is a very young city compared to Europe and New York, and we’ve seen the growth that has happened,” Estefan said. “There are a lot of people who adore this city and want to keep it glowing. Padron and the college are helping new generations to do it.”
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