Smithsonian Archives of American Art

 
Demi (b. 1955)
Oral history interview with Demi, 1997 Nov. 20

An interview of Demi conducted by Juan A. Martínez 1997 Nov. 20, in Demi's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.

Demi speaks of her birthplace, Camaguey, Cuba; the death of her father in 1960, and being sent to Puerto Rico in 1971; her move to New York, and arrival in Miami in 1978; her theater studies at Miami Dade Community College. She recalls an opening at the Meeting Point Gallery in Coral Gables in 1980, where she met her husband, painter Arturo Rodriguez. She talks about her first painting in 1984, the role Arturo plays in her life, her first exhibition at the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture in 1987, and the importance of touching the human spirit.