CUBA ~ The Natural Beauty - IMAG Museum

IMAG History and Science Museum

Ft. Myers, Florida

March 6 - December 31, 2020

The United Nations declared 2002 “The Year of the Mountains” and encouraged countries across the world to hold environmental conferences about mountain conservation. Clyde was invited to photograph the mountains of Cuba for an exhibit of his work at the Conference of the Mountains in Cuba. He saw this as an opportunity to make a positive difference in the world, while helping people see the beauty in Cuba. As Clyde often says, the World is Round…even if we humans don’t seem to act like it is. 

While photographing Cuba we both discovered the warmth and hospitality of the Cuban people, as well as the beauty of their mountains. 

Magote 5

As you can see by the dates above, the opening for the Cuba exhibit fell during the beginning of our COVID-19 shutdown. As society began working to keep communication alive during the shutdown, the trend at having "Live" programs became popular. Having missed the opportunity to have a grand opening of the exhibit, the IMAG Museum invited Clyde and me to give a "LIVE" talk and Keynote. It was a new experience for us, and the museum too. Clyde has done several LIVE talks since the shutdown, but this one was unique because it was a Facebook Live. It is a new thing for Facebook, but I'll talk about that at the end of this blog. 

The entry into the exhibit

A few years ago, Ft. Myers combined their science museum and history museum into one building. Clyde and I have done several exhibits in their old History Museum, so it was exciting to share Clyde's Cuba exhibit with the new museum. It was like being with friends again. :) And, being with friends made this new, unique way of connecting with folks fun. Another fun thing about this LIVE talk was that our granddaughter, Kayla, kept track of all the questions, and we were able to answer all of them at the end of the program. It was fun participating with the audience too. Almost like a real talk!

Enjoying conversations while waiting

The great “CREW” at IMAG

The Live Talk ~ except we took our masks off so we could be heard more clearly

Clyde’s book of b&w images he took while in Cuba. There are also some color images of the people and places we visited.

Clyde pre-signing his Cuba books for the museum

Cuba ~ The Natural Beauty is a collection photographs Clyde has taken during his journey through Cuba on three separate expeditions. Discovering the warmth and hospitality of the Cuban people, through his photography, he has helped open Cuba’s natural beauty to the world. From mountain waterfalls to lush green jungles, his photographs reveal the seductive beauty, subtle grandeur, and majesty of this diverse island. The expedition to Cuba took him to places not seen by visitors in over fifty years.

“Clyde Butcher’s images of Cuba presented in this book will not simply be a melancholy record of what once was, but rather a celebration of what will always be.”  Robert L. Bendick Jr. Director, Southeast Division, The Nature Conservancy 

https://clydebutcher.com/s/books-and-gifts/books/cuba-the-natural-beauty-second-edition/

While Clyde signed books I took a short excursion through the museum. It is a wonderful museum and a great place for education about the history of the area, as well as science projects. Would love to see it in action!

Learning about the Calusa Indians and how they made their tools was very interesting…not to mention how clever they were in creating them.

Wear a Mask as a polite effort to protect those who might be susceptible to Covid - 19

We had a wonderful time with both the museum staff and the folks who joined us on the talk. Be sure to stop by and check it all out when things open up. 

As I write this, Florida has begun to open up. The IMAG Museum has extended the Cuba exhibit until December 31, which will allow folks time to enjoy the exhibition. 

for information about IMAG CLICK HERE

About Facebook live:

The concept of doing Facebook live is exciting, especially for non-profits. Facebook wanted to test their new idea and reached out to many museums across the country to see if they would be interested in helping them run a test of the programing by hosting a LIVE FACEBOOK.  IMAG Museum was one of the museums that said yes. 

There is a fee for customers to hear the person speak, just as there would be if you went to a live talk at a museum. The price can cover the cost of listening to one speaker. Still, if a non-profit has a series of speakers every month, as  IMAG does because they include art, history, and science in their programs, then the customers can pay one fee and get a whole month, or years worth, of speakers. The concept helps the non-profit to continue earning money while having entertaining speakers to engage their audience. On Facebook's part, I imagine they are hoping the non-profit will advertise their speakers, and because advertising costs money, it will generate income for Facebook. 

It's a great idea, and we were excited to participate in the test. Overall, it was good. There were a few things that needed to be fixed, but Facebook seems to be well on its way to providing this for their customers.

to learn more about Clyde’s traveling exhibits CLICK HERE