Known For
Pioneering Miami's ascent as a global art destination through her free public museum, bold collecting of contemporary works, and dedicated support for emerging artists and local students.
About
Born in Cuba and settling in Miami in 1975, Rosa de la Cruz and her husband Carlos, leveraging their beverage industry success, curated a visionary collection featuring artists like Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Hernan Bas, Albert Oehlen, and Ana Mendieta, which they shared through their free-admission venue. She boosted local talent by funding student trips to European and New York galleries, offering scholarships and lectures at institutions such as New World School of the Arts and Design and Architecture Senior High, and hosting influential Key Biscayne events during Art Basel. Iconic murals commissioned for her estate in 2004 were later donated to the Bass Museum, while her home parties drew art world insiders. After her February 2024 death at 81, Christie's auctioned key pieces for $34.4 million, topped by a $13.6 million Gonzalez-Torres sculpture, and ICA Miami purchased the museum site for $25 million.
