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Articles:Landings: News: Aviation News by Pacific Flyer, July
2004 The proceeds were to be used to satisfy part of a $27-million judgment against the Cuban government won in a U.S. court by the ex-wife of a Cuban intelligence officer. But Ana Margarita Martinez was so angry at Fidel Castro, she bid on and won the plane herself to ensure it was not repatriated to Cuba. After making her point, Martinez sold it to her lawyer, Scott Leeds, who has stored the mustard-brown biplane in a hangar at Key West Airport for the past year and a half. With no prospect of flying the An-2 in the U.S. and no buyers on the horizon, Leeds was at wit's end about what to do with the plane. "We always envisioned something special for the plane," Leeds said. But it was only after an encounter with Miami-based Cuban artist Xavier Cortada, whose specialty is public murals, that the idea of turning it into a piece of patriotic art was born. "We didn't want it to just fall idle or go quietly into the night," Leeds explained. "We really wanted it to be a living monument to freedom." A deal was struck and the An-2 was disassembled by volunteers and trucked to a former U.S. Coast Guard hangar in Miami. There it was reassembled and turned over to Cortada, who would use his paint and brushes to transform it into the Cuban Monument of Freedom. The recurring image in Cortada's painting of the An-2 is open mouths, which he said symbolize the lack of freedom of speech in his homeland. The bright colors and other visual elements are typical of traditional Cuban art. To accent the theme of mass flight from Cuba, Cortada surrounded the colorful An-2 with equally colorful suitcases and trunks. There are 45 of them, numbered 1959 to 2004 to mark every year of Castro's oppressive communist regime. The trunks are filled with cards and letters from Miami's Cuban exiles about their experiences leaving Cuba — what they left behind and what they found in the U.S. The responses are placed in the trunks that correspond to the year that person came to America. Cortada's response will be in the trunk for 1962, the year he came to Florida with his father. The battered airplane, he said, is "a symbol of the struggle for freedom that the Cuban people are so desperate for that they are willing to risk their lives." The An-2 was unveiled during the city of Miami's "Celebra Libertad!" (Celebrate Freedom!) exhibit on May 19th, the eve of Cuban Independence Day. It is on display at the Elizabeth Virrick hangar at 2600 So. Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove, Fla. Leeds and Cortada hope the Cuban Monument of Freedom will find a permanent home at a museum in South Florida or even the Smithsonian Institute. According to Leeds, the Smithsonian has already expressed interest in acquiring the exiles' letters. For her part, Martinez is thrilled with has happened to "her" plane. "It's something that involves both the cultural world and the
cause," she told the Miami Herald. "It's very innovative
and something the entire community can participate in."
About the artist: Xavier Cortada Xavier Cortada has exhibited his works in museums, galleries, and cultural venues around the world.. The Miami-based Cuban-American artist, attorney, and activist, has worked collaboratively with diverse groups across the United States, Latin America, Europe and Africa to create pro-social community murals and participant-driven art projects. Cortada has created art for the White House, the World Bank, the Florida Capitol, the Florida Supreme Court, the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Courthouse, Nike, and the Miami Art Museum. The artist’s website is www.cortada.com
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