The University Libraries are pleased to welcome Jessica “Yessica” Gispert, Larry J. González, and Eliecer Jiménez Almeida as the 2026-2027 Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Artists‑in‑Residence for the Cuban Heritage Collection. Throughout their residencies, each artist will develop new creative work informed by the Collection’s archival materials, engage with the University of Miami and South Florida communities, and present a public program at the conclusion of their stay. Supported by The Goizueta Foundation, the program encourages artistic innovation grounded in the historical and cultural record of Cuba and its diaspora.
Yessica Gispert is a Miami‑born multidisciplinary artist whose work explores Caribbean-American identity, mythology, and mysticism. Her practice draws on memory, ritual, and abstraction to build narratives rooted in personal and collective histories. She holds degrees from Florida International University, New York University, and the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in Germany. Gispert is a visiting assistant professor in photography at Florida International University, and her work has been exhibited internationally at institutions such as Museum Abteiberg, Bonner Kunstverein, MoMA PS1, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. She has received multiple Miami Individual Artist Grants, an Ellies Creator Award, and commissions from Miami‑Dade County Art in Public Places.
Larry J. González is a visual artist and poet based in Miami. Trained in art history, he previously taught in the Department of Theoretical Studies on Art at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, and was part of the artistic duo jorge & larry until 2017. His work combines diverse media to examine themes such as totalitarianism, gender, literature, and the commercialization of art, often through parody and kitsch. His recent solo exhibition “Llorar sé desde la cuna” was presented at Mahara+Co in 2025. His work has appeared in exhibitions at the ESMoA (Experimentally Structured Museum of Art), Pérez Art Museum Miami, Museo de Antioquia, National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, and Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. As a poet, he has published several books and received various Cuban literary awards, including the David Prize, the Julián del Casal Prize, and the La Gaceta de Cuba Poetry Prize.
Eliecer Jiménez Almeida is a Cuban‑American filmmaker whose work spans documentary, essay film, fiction, and experimental cinema. His films explore memory, censorship, exile, and the cultural dynamics of Cuba and its diaspora. He is the founder of ikaik films, and his documentary “Veritas” has been distributed through PBS, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, WORLD Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, and Alexander Street. His work has been presented at Documenta 15, the Museum of Modern Art, Ludwig Forum Aachen, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Jiménez Almeida has been a visiting filmmaker at universities including Yale, Columbia, New York University, City University of New York, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, the University of Miami, and Florida International University. He holds a diploma in documentary filmmaking from the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión in Cuba, participated in the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, and earned two master’s degrees from Florida International University, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate researching Cuban diasporic cinema.
At the conclusion of their residencies, Gispert, González, and Jiménez Almeida will return to their artistic and academic work enriched by their engagement with the Cuban Heritage Collection and the University of Miami community. The Libraries look forward to the new works, conversations, and collaborations that will emerge from their time on campus.
The University Libraries remain deeply grateful to The Goizueta Foundation for making this innovative program possible. Please join us in congratulating these three exceptional artists whose work expands and enriches the field of Cuban and Cuban‑diasporic cultural expression.
