Ricardo Viera (December 15, 1945 – April 1, 2020) was a Cuban-born American visual artist, educator, museum director, art collector, and curator. He specializing in working in

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

, and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

. He was a professor of art at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

in Pennsylvania from 1974 until 2018; and also served as the director and chief curator of the Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) museum.

Early life and education

Ricardo Viera was born in December 15, 1945, in Ciego de Avila, Camagüey, Cuba. When he was 17 years old, Viera immigrated to the United States. He received a

BFA degree A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard Undergraduate education, undergraduate Academic degree, degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Ba ...

in 1973 from the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Massa ...

(now School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts) in Boston, Massachusetts; and a

MFA degree A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in 1974 from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. Additionally he received a certificate of museum management from the museum at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Curatorships

In 1982, Viera worked as a curator consultant for six months for the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (formerly the Cuban Museum of the Americas, 1974–1999) in Miami. Between 1988–1989, he was the curator of the 24th Annual Contemporary American Art Exhibition. In 1989 he made the curatorships of the exhibitions '' William Rau. Photographer: The Lehigh Valley Railroad Photographs''. In 1994 he worked also in ''American Voices: Cuban American Photography in the U.S.'''', in FotoFest'94, Fifth Biennial International Festival of Photography, Houston,

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

In 1998 he was the curator of ''Josef Bajus. Design Explorations Mixed Media'', in DuBois Gallery, Lehigh University Art Galleries,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

In 1979 he exhibited his works in ''Ricardo Viera''., in the Sardoni Art Gallery, Wilkes College, Wilkes Bane,

In 1985 he presented ''Island on my mind'' in the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MOCHA),

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

In 1986 he made other personal exhibition: Ricardo Viera: Computer Graphics 1986'', in the Kemerer Museum, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. And in 1987 he presented his works in ''Ricardo Viera: Computer Art'', in the East Stroudsburg University Art Gallery, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Group exhibitions

He was part of many collective exhibitions, among them we can quote in 1977 ''Re encuentro Cubano 1977'', Museo Cubano de Arte y Cultura, Miami,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Some of his works were selected to conform the V (1981) and VII (1986) Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe,

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. In 1982 he was one of the selected artists to conform ''Young Hispanics U.S.'', in the 27th Annual Contemporary Art. Ralph Wilson Gallery, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem,

And in 1990 he was also included in the ''Urban Anthropology'', in the

Sculptors Gallery Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Awards

He obtained many awards, such as the Cintas Foundation Fellowship,

1974-1975. And in 1980, 1981 and 1984, he gained the ''Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts''.

Death and legacy

Viera died at the age of 75 on April 1, 2020, in Miami, Florida, after

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. His works can be found as part of important collections, such as

Cintas Foundation Oscar Benjamin Cintas y Rodriguez, (31 Mar 1887 in Sagua la Grande, Cuba – 11 May 1957 in New York City, N.Y.) was a prominent sugar and railroad magnate who served as Cuba's ambassador to the United States from 1932 until 1934. Career He w ...

, New York City; the Cleveland Museum, Cleveland, Ohio; the

Lowe Art Museum Lowe Art Museum is the art museum of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Miami and is accessible by Metrorail (Miami-Dade County), Miami Metrorail at University station (Miami- ...

at the University of Miami; the

David C. Driskell Center The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora, known informally as the Driskell Center, is an arts archive and academic research center dedicated to African-American and A ...

at the University of Maryland; the

Noyes Museum The Noyes Museum of Art is an art museum. It styles itself as the only fine arts museum in southern New Jersey. The museum opened in 1983 in Galloway Township, New Jersey. Due to lack of funds for needed repairs, the main Galloway building in ...

, New Jersey; and the

Tel Aviv Museum The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...

, Israel.

References

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, OUR JOURNEYS/OUR STORIES: PORTRAITURE & IDENTITY IN PHOTOGRAPHY, March 21, 2004. *

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 ...

, ''Who's who in American art'', Issue 6536; R. R. Bowker., 1980; {{DEFAULTSORT:Viera, Ricardo 1945 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American male artists American curators American contemporary artists Artists from Miami Cuban contemporary artists Cuban emigrants to the United States Lehigh University faculty Rhode Island School of Design alumni School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni