MEDIA ADVISORY | FUEGO at the Square: Art, Community, and Storytelling at Cauley Square
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MEDIA ADVISORY
FUEGO at the Square: Art, Community, and Storytelling at Cauley Square
Miami, FL — FUEGO CONTRA EL FUEGO is coming back with FUEGO at the Square, a free, all-day community arts event taking place on February 28, 2026, at The Children’s Gallery & Arts Center, located within Cauley Square Historic Village. The event brings together visual artists, musicians, writers, and performers whose work reflects lived experience, cultural identity, and creative expression rooted in community.
Hosted at The Children’s Gallery & Arts Center, the event unfolds within Cauley Square Historic Village, a hidden gem that offers visitors a glimpse into Old South Florida — a charming 10-acre enclave of boutiques, art galleries, cafés, shaded walkways, and tropical gardens. The setting provides an inviting, walkable space for families, neighbors, and visitors to experience art in an intimate and welcoming environment.
“FUEGO is about art connecting people and strengthening the community. We honor those whose work supports the local community and those who speak of resilience and freedom. This is a space to connect and be inspired by art that carries courage, memory, love, and hope,” says Ivette Dominguez, creator and organizer of FUEGO CONTRA EL FUEGO.
FUEGO at the Square will feature an all-day art exhibition, live musical performances, and a Meet the Author presentation with poet and writer Anna M. Figueroa, who will share work from her newest poetry collection, 19 Poems from Vero Beach. The event is family-friendly and open to all ages. Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the event.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In 19 Poems from Vero Beach, Anna M. Figueroa opens the door to the landscapes of her heart — places where love burns and heals, where solitude reveals strength, and where memory becomes both ache and illumination. From the quiet tenderness of “Hands” to the fierce defiance of “Burn” and the sacred longing of “Woman of Jerusalem,” these poems trace the contours of womanhood, faith, and resilience with startling honesty.
Figueroa writes as a daughter, lover, mother, and survivor — a Cuban American voice rooted in a unique bi-cultural experience. Each poem is a moment captured in light and shadow — reflections on love lost and found, on identity, and on the divine pulse beneath everyday life. 19 Poems from Vero Beach is both intimate and universal — a lyrical testament to the courage it takes to feel deeply and to live as one’s truest self.
“Poetry is how we reach for the divine… that which gives meaning to it all somehow.”
— Anna M. Figueroa
ART FROM INSIDE CUBA
The exhibition includes work by Cuban resistance artist Dayan Melian Castro “Napoleón,” who is still inside Cuba and whose art cannot be publicly exhibited on the island, as well as Cuban artists who were forced into exile, including Luis Eligio D’Omni, David D Omni, and Ras Sandino, who were part of Omni Zona Franca and Movimiento San Isidro in Cuba and faced repression for their artistic expression.
The exhibition also includes work by Denis Cabrera Rodríguez, a July 11 (11J) detainee who was imprisoned in Cuba for his artistic and civic expression. Denis is now exiled and is currently facing deportation while detained at the Krome Detention Center. The inclusion of his work in this exhibition underscores the ongoing risks artists face for exercising freedom of expression.
ARTISTS & PARTICIPANTS — FULL BIOS
Alexey Camilo Meriño Téllez is a Cuban artist from Las Tunas, now exiled in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. His visual art denounces political repression in Cuba, and in 2021 he gained international attention for a powerful viral speech at a Cuban freedom protest in Mérida. Through painting, activism, and films such as his animated short El Remolcador y Yo, Alexey continues his fight for truth and freedom.
Dayan Melian Castro “Napoleón” is a Cuban resistance artist still inside Cuba, using painting, graffiti, and tattoo art as weapons of protest and freedom. This exhibition includes the final public exhibition of his piece Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas: El Sagrado Corazón de la Libertad, along with other works of his art.
Denis Cabrera Rodríguez is a Cuban artist and human rights activist known for his involvement in artistic movements such as San Isidro and 27N that use creativity as protest against censorship and repression. His work and activism in Cuba led to censorship, arbitrary detention, torture, and forced disappearance before he left the island. He is currently facing deportation, and this exhibition includes photographs taken in Cuba that were previously decommissioned.
Luis Eligio D’Omni is a Cuban-born artist, poet, and activist. A founding member of Omni Zona Franca (1997–2017), he is celebrated for blending art, performance, poetry, music, and activism to challenge Cuba’s state-controlled cultural scene. He faced censorship, exclusion from official galleries, and harassment. Today, he continues advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves on the island prison of Cuba.
David D Omni is a musician and painter from Havana, Cuba, whose work focuses on freedom and cultural resistance. He trained in Alamar as part of the interdisciplinary collective Omni Zona Franca, a space that promoted artistic expression as a form of protest against censorship and repression by the Cuban regime. He continues his artistic work in exile in Miami.
Ras Sandino is a Hip-Hop and reggae MC, composer, and artist whose work blends music, culture, and social commentary. He is a founder of Movimiento San Isidro in Cuba and a political exile in Miami since 2020, he continues using music and art as tools for expression, awareness, and community engagement.
Born Legacy is a Miami-based hip-hop artist whose music reflects lived experience, cultural identity, and a desire for freedom. He is a cofounder of Green Haven, a community garden and nonprofit initiative in Overtown helping community grow their own food and improve access to fresh produce.
Luisiano 305 is a Miami-based hip-hop artist whose music reflects personal expression and cultural identity, with a desire for freedom in his home country. He will perform “Cuba Libre” as part of the event.
Carlos Franco is a Miami-area visual artist and arts educator who founded and directs The Children’s Gallery & Arts Center, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to visual and performing arts education and cultural activities in the community since 2009.
Fabian Martinez is a Miami art organizer and founder of Esquina de Abuela, an urban arts and community space in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami that has served as a gallery, event venue, artist residency, and cultural hub.
Soto Ink is a tattoo artist and visual artist. In this exhibition, she will be sharing works that include portraits of female dissidents from Cuba, reflecting resilience, courage, and the ongoing struggle for liberty.
Miss Lushy is a Miami-based muralist and visual artist known for bold, expressive work rooted in culture, identity, and community. She is the artist behind the original Celia Cruz mural at the Latin Walk of Fame on Calle Ocho, honoring the Queen of Salsa and Cuban cultural legacy. Through murals, painting, and mixed media, Miss Lushy celebrates heritage, storytelling, and connection within public space.
Peter Vahan is a photographer whose work includes collaborations with cultural institutions and featured creative projects throughout the region. He has a passion for capturing moments of human dignity, courage, and the pursuit of freedom through visual storytelling.
Anna M. Figueroa is an entrepreneur and a Cuban American poet and writer based in Miami. Her work bridges the English and Spanish languages through themes of resilience, womanhood, and the beauty found in everyday life. Through her own life experiences of family, love, loss, and surviving breast cancer, she has built a life filled with truth and freedom. She is the author of Intimate Strangers, A Woman Full Grown, Una Mujer en el Camino, and her newest collection, 19 Poems from Vero Beach.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Donations will be accepted throughout the day in support of Fernando Almenares Rivera, the Cuban independent artist known as Nando OBDC, who is currently imprisoned in Cuba for his artistic expression. Nando coordinated artwork from inside Cuba for FUEGO Art Basel 2024 and was arbitrarily arrested shortly after. All donations collected during the event will go towards supporting him.
EVENT DETAILS
