NAEMI in collaboration with South Florida Wellness Network presents, 'Outsiders in Wynwood'

This exhibition is an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. Featured Artists will include: Eric Holmes, Jesse Banda, Gary Brewer and Milton Schwartz, Gloria de la Caridad García, and Damián Valdés.

The National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) in collaboration with South Florida Wellness Network will present the exhibition, Outsiders in Wynwood, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, May 8th, 2025, from 6 – 8pm. The NAEMI Gallery space is located in the Wynwood Art District at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127.

Featured Artists in the exhibition Outsiders in Wynwood will include: Eric Holmes, Jesse Banda, Gary Brewer and Milton Schwartz USA, Gloria de la Caridad García CUBA, and Damián Valdés CUBA.

Gary Brewer

South Florida Wellness Network (SFWN) is a recovery focused support network run and driven by young adults, adults, and family peers. We are a community of individuals who have been strengthened by our lived experiences with behavioral, emotional, mental health, trauma and/or substance use challenges. Our shared experience unites and empowers us to help others discover their unique path to recovery.

Damian Valdes

National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) is a non-profit organization established in South Florida dedicated to discovering, studying, promoting, exhibiting, and preserving the art of those struggling with mental illnesses throughout the world. NAEMI has done pioneering work during the past 35 years in recognizing the artistic talent of individuals recovering from mental illnesses and providing a forum for bringing these talents to public awareness.

Jesse Banda

Founded in 1988, NAEMI emerges while Juan Martin, the Executive Director, worked providing counseling to mentally disabled persons at a community mental health center in Miami. After encouraging a client to paint as a way to escape his intense suffering, Martin remembers how he liked that artwork and realized at that moment that there were probably many other talented persons in psychiatric hospitals waiting to be discovered.

Art collectors and aficionados are cordially invited to attend the Opening Reception of Outsiders in Wynwood, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery in Wynwood on Thursday, May 8th, 2025 from 6 – 8pm, located at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127.

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Eric Holmes

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with NAEMI present "Against the Current Outsider Art" Exhibition

 

Echo, USA. Echo McCallister’s style is innocent, childish, primitive. Although not fully aware of it, he has created figures and shapes of intense simplicity. He explores the possibilities of color to recreate fantastic landscapes inhabited by dragonflies, giant flowers, naked trees… all these works bear his unique hallmark, similar to other 20th Century artists like Joan Miró or Jasper Johns.

The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, August 8th 2024, from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024.

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) invites you to the opening of their new location and the NAEMI Gallery space, located in the Wynwood Art District at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127. NAEMI will present the exhibition, Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, August 8th 2024, from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024.

Featured Artists in the exhibition Against the Current Outsider Art will include: Candice Avery USA, Issac Crespo CUBA, Lisa Chuan Lee Cheng USA, Echo USA, Ramon Losa SPAIN, Misleidys Castillo CUBA, Jorge Alberto Hernández Cadi (El Buzo) CUBA, Sebastián Ferreira PARAGUAY, Yaniel Agrafojo Sanchez CUBA, Gloria de la Caridad CUBA, and Damas USA.

Candice Avery, USA. The work of this North American artist (Albion, Michigan, 1951) shows a surprising variety and a solid technique. The refined hyperrealism of her drawings captures every detail to the very last hair. Her collages, on the other hand, display an unmistakable Pop aesthetic: every piece appears as a historic document dealing with added objects and words such as “always”, “waiting”, “burn”, “love”.

South Florida Wellness Network (SFWN) is a recovery focused support network run and driven by young adults, adults, and family peers. We are a community of individuals who have been strengthened by our lived experiences with behavioral, emotional, mental health, trauma and/or substance use challenges. Our shared experience unites and empowers us to help others discover their unique path to recovery.

National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) is a non-profit organization established in South Florida dedicated to discovering, studying, promoting, exhibiting, and preserving the art of those struggling with mental illnesses throughout the world. NAEMI has done pioneering work during the past 35 years in recognizing the artistic talent of individuals recovering from mental illnesses and providing a forum for bringing these talents to public awareness.

Yaniel Agrafojo Sanchez, CUBA. Yaniel Agrafojo Sánchez is a self-taught artist born on December 17, 1984 in Guanabacoa, Havana. From a young age he had an acute photographic memory, reproducing images of locomotives and trains in every detail of their parts, down to the smallest. His social behavior was limited, very introverted, and he demonstrated scant communication skills while growing up.

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) invites you to the opening of their new location and the NAEMI Gallery space, located in the Wynwood Art District at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127. NAEMI will present the exhibition, Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, August 8th 2024, from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024.

Founded in 1988, NAEMI emerges while Juan Martin, the Executive Director, worked providing counselling to mentally disabled persons at a community mental health center in Miami. After encouraging a client to paint as a way to escape his intense suffering, Martin remembers how he liked that artwork and realized at that moment that there were probably many other talented persons in psychiatric hospitals waiting to be discovered.

Jorge A. Hernandez Cadi “El Buzo”, CUBA. The practice of Jorge Alberto Hernández Cadi of scavenging in the garbage has resulted in him being popularly known as “the diver”. He utilizes recycled materials such as brass and wood boxes on whose exterior and interior sides he adds black and white photographs. To do this he trims and draws with a blue pen content of a sexual and diabolical nature.

Art collectors and aficionados are cordially invited to attend the Opening Reception of Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues, taking place at the new NAEMI Gallery in Wynwood on Thursday, August 8th, 2024 from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024. The NAEMI Gallery is located at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127.

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with NAEMI present "Against the Current Outsider Art" Exhibition

 

Gloria de la Caridad, CUBA. The work of Gloria de la Caridad (Havana,1958) is closely linked to the domicile, to the materials – cardboard, magazine clippings, nail painting, textiles, homemade rubber – that she finds around her. With them she builds anthropomorphic collages on a human scale that she obsessively fills with figures. Some of them are feminine (smiling faces taken from couché paper), but there are also masks of primitive resonances, devils and an endless number of decorative motifs that she draws with meticulousness.

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) invites you to the opening of their new location and the NAEMI Gallery space, located in the Wynwood Art District at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127. NAEMI will present the exhibition, Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, August 8th 2024, from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024.

Yaniel Agrafojo Sanchez, CUBA. Yaniel Agrafojo Sánchez is a self-taught artist born on December 17, 1984 in Guanabacoa, Havana. From a young age he had an acute photographic memory, reproducing images of locomotives and trains in every detail of their parts, down to the smallest. His social behavior was limited, very introverted, and he demonstrated scant communication skills while growing up.

Featured Artists in the exhibition Against the Current Outsider Art will include: Candice Avery USA, Issac Crespo CUBA, Lisa Chuan Lee Cheng USA, Echo USA, Ramon Losa SPAIN, Misleidys Castillo CUBA, Jorge Alberto Hernández Cadi (El Buzo) CUBA, Sebastián Ferreira PARAGUAY, Yaniel Agrafojo Sanchez CUBA, Gloria de la Caridad CUBA, and Damas USA.

Misleidys Castillo, CUBA. Misleidys was born with brain, hearing and autistic impediments. She has always lived in her own secluded world, inserted in a familiar environment.Painting with watercolors and pencils has been her great passion since early childhood. Over time, the sketching of muscular male figures with hard facial features has become central to her work. Gradually these figures she colors, cuts and pastes on the wall have acquired a large format – even bigger than the actual human size – and can be looked at as sculptures.

South Florida Wellness Network (SFWN) is a recovery focused support network run and driven by young adults, adults, and family peers. We are a community of individuals who have been strengthened by our lived experiences with behavioral, emotional, mental health, trauma and/or substance use challenges. Our shared experience unites and empowers us to help others discover their unique path to recovery.

Echo, USA. Echo McCallister’s style is innocent, childish, primitive. Although not fully aware of it, he has created figures and shapes of intense simplicity. He explores the possibilities of color to recreate fantastic landscapes inhabited by dragonflies, giant flowers, naked trees… all these works bear his unique hallmark, similar to other 20th Century artists like Joan Miró or Jasper Johns.

National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) is a non-profit organization established in South Florida dedicated to discovering, studying, promoting, exhibiting, and preserving the art of those struggling with mental illnesses throughout the world. NAEMI has done pioneering work during the past 35 years in recognizing the artistic talent of individuals recovering from mental illnesses and providing a forum for bringing these talents to public awareness.

Jorge A. Hernandez Cadi “El Buzo”, CUBA. The practice of Jorge Alberto Hernández Cadi of scavenging in the garbage has resulted in him being popularly known as “the diver”. He utilizes recycled materials such as brass and wood boxes on whose exterior and interior sides he adds black and white photographs. To do this he trims and draws with a blue pen content of a sexual and diabolical nature.

The South Florida Wellness Network in collaboration with National Art Exhibition of the Mentally Ill (NAEMI) invites you to the opening of their new location and the NAEMI Gallery space, located in the Wynwood Art District at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127. NAEMI will present the exhibition, Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues. The Opening Reception will take place at the NAEMI Gallery on Thursday, August 8th 2024, from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024.

Founded in 1988, NAEMI emerges while Juan Martin, the Executive Director, worked providing counselling to mentally disabled persons at a community mental health center in Miami. After encouraging a client to paint as a way to escape his intense suffering, Martin remembers how he liked that artwork and realized at that moment that there were probably many other talented persons in psychiatric hospitals waiting to be discovered.

Art collectors and aficionados are cordially invited to attend the Opening Reception of Against the Current Outsider Art, an exploration of works created by outsider artists recovering from behavioral health issues, taking place at the new NAEMI Gallery in Wynwood on Thursday, August 8th, 2024 from 6 – 8pm. The exhibition will be on view from August 8th through September 30th, 2024. The NAEMI Gallery is located at 3408 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida 33127.

NAEMI’s 35th Anniversary Exhibition “A Celebration of Outsider Art” at Studio 18 in Pembroke Pines

Art lovers and enthusiasts are cordially invited to the Opening Reception of NAEMI’s 35th Anniversary Exhibit, “A Celebration of Outsider Art” at Studio 18 in the City of Pembroke Pines on Friday, February 16th from 7 – 9pm.

The Studio 18 Art Complex will be showcasing NAEMI’s 35th Anniversary Exhibit, “A Celebration of Outsider Art” from February 16 to May 9, 2024. An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, February 16th from 7 – 9 pm at the Studio 18 Art Complex, located at 1101 Poinciana Drive. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served during the Opening Reception, this event is Free & Open to the Public, RSVP HERE.

The National Art Exhibitions by the Mentally Ill (NAEMI), founded in 1988, celebrates its 35th anniversary with a compelling display that showcases the raw and unfiltered beauty of outsider art. This genre, often marginalized and overlooked, emerges as a vibrant and essential voice in artistic dialogue. The exhibition features the unique works of 25 internationally acclaimed artists, including Echo MacCallister and Mr. Imagination from the USA, Ramon Losa from Spain, and notable Cuban artists Jorge Alberto Cadi “El Buzo,” Julian Espinosa Rebollido “Wayacon,” and Hector Gallo, along with Sebastian Ferreira from Paraguay.

NAEMI’s collection showcases the diversity and historical context of outsider art, which often illustrates creativity from socially marginalized figures who often experienced mental illnesses, and challenged the status quo. The 35th Anniversary exhibition “A Celebration of Outsider Art” aims to highlight the artistic accomplishments of these artists within the context of outsider art.

Art Programming for this exhibition includes a Panel Discussion: Art and Wellness on May 9th from 6 – 7pm at the Studio 18 Art Complex in Pembroke Pines. The panel will feature Senator Nan Rich, Mayor of Broward County, Silvia Quintana, CEO of Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, and Susan Nyamora, CEO of South Florida Wellness Network.

Studio 18 Art Complex is a multi-faceted art space offering affordable studios for emerging and mid-career artists. Inside studios range in size, are well lit and equipped sinks. Resident artists participate in exhibitions throughout the year drawing crowds of people, while also enjoying 24-hour secure access and the ability to teach their craft in classrooms and have full use of the artists’ lounge. Learn more about the Studio 18 Complex HERE.

The community can learn more about the City of Pembroke Pines’ latest Events by subscribing to Pembroke Pines Media on YouTube, to NewsFlash, a twice a month digital newsletter at www.ppines.com/Newsflash, by reading the city’s digital newspaper City Connect and website via www.ppines.com, checking the city’s digital signage, or by visiting the City’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityofpembrokepines, and @cityofppines for Twitter and Instagram. Residents with Comcast can view Pembroke Pines Media programming on Channel 78.