Key Takeaways by Ruben Rubio

The key takeaways from being in the Arts and Activism class for me were gaining a higher understanding of Cuba’s history with the U.S.  I did not know that relations between Cuba and the U.S. began in the 18th century when European colonies of the New World began trading with Cuba for sugar and tobacco.  I also did not know that Cuban baseball traveling teams began to travel to the U.S. to play Major League Baseball before World War I.  Only Cuban light-skinned players were allowed to travel and play in the U.S. if they looked white by American standards.  The research that I have done has opened up material that I can source to create art.  In the future I will choose a topic from history to inform my creative process and give me a starting point in devising a project. 

Another key takeaway was going to TJ and meeting their local artists.  I was struck by how these artists drew from their family and neighborhood stories to create art.  I will look into my own stories that range from my parents coming to the U.S. illegally to my ten-year military career to inform my creative process in the future.

Lastly, I will review the book Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution to build strategies and get ideas on how to organize and stage art to address issues that I may be interested in affecting like Guillermo Gomez-Pena has done in “The Couple in The Cage” and his guest appearance here at CalArts Bijou Theatre.  


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