She has traveled the globe as an international correspondent, warmed the hearts of viewers with her breast cancer battle and told her life story in a New York Times bestseller.
Hoda Kotb (part 1) Forum Club of the Palm Beaches
Hoda Kotb (part 2) Forum Club of the Palm Beaches
Meet NBC's Hoda Kotb. You can catch her daily "dishing the dish" with Kathie Lee Gifford as part of the extended "Today" show. After all, girls DO just want to have fun, cocktails in hand, while they take a look at the lighter side of life. But don't be fooled. There's a lot more behind the woman who has covered everything from war-torn Burma to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kotb, who has been with NBC since 1998, is the author of Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee.
She has covered a wide variety of domestic and international stories for NBC as well as numerous human-interest stories and features. She co-anchored an MSNBC special on race, “Shades of Hope … Shadows of Hate” which was reported from Birmingham, Alabama at the former site of a Klan bombing. In Burma, Kotb was led by rebel soldiers to report the story on 12-year-old twin warriors who were said to have mystical powers.
Norton presents Outside/In, first exhibition by new Curator of Photography Tim B. Wride
The work of six Florida photographers is featured
Tim B. Wride, the new William & Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography at the Norton Museum of Art raised the curtain on his inaugural exhibition. Titled Outside/In: Florida Photographers Face-to-Face with the Museum Collection, the exhibition opened at 5 p.m. on March 22, 2012 during Art After Dark.
The featured photographers are: Maria Martinez-Cañas, from Miami; Alexander Dias, from St. Augustine; Valerie George, from Pensacola, Christopher Morris, based in Tampa, and the team of Eduardo del Valle and Mirta Gómez, also from Miami. Wride will discuss Martinez-Canas’ work with the artist at 6:30 p.m. also on March 22 at the Museum. (Christopher Morris will present an Artist Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24.)
“Their work,” says Wride, explores issues of identity, culture, environment, surveillance, and the documentary, and will be juxtaposed with works from the Norton’s Photography Collection to create a ‘dialog’ between the photographers and the Museum Collection.”
Wride used this first exhibition as a way to get acquainted with his new home. Before joining the Norton, he spent 14 years at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as Curator of Photography. Curating Outside/In enabled him to get acquainted with Florida and some of its artists as he travelled to their studios. It also provided the initial opportunity to explore the Norton’s Photography Collection which includes about 3,000 works.
“As a museum curator arriving in an unfamiliar region,” Wride notes, “there are additional discoveries that become imperative before one can truly feel a part of the community: understanding the diversity and needs of your audiences; acquainting yourself with the artists who call your new home theirs, and finally, intimately absorbing the contents and possibilities of the collection you have been hired to shepherd.”
He adds that, “The latter process—the curatorial one—is a continuous endeavor that began the moment I took the job as the William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography. My first exhibition for the Norton, Outside/In, is a barometer of sorts, an early indicator of where I am in the process of becoming a part of my new community.”
The Norton Museum of Art is a major cultural attraction in Florida, and internationally known for its distinguished Permanent Collection featuring American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art and Photography. The Norton is located at 1451 S. Olive Ave. in West Palm Beach, FL., and is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays and major Holidays). For additional information, please call 561-832-5196, or visit www.norton.org.
Always striving to improve himself and his community, Mark Kent became CEO for the CAC-Florida Medical Centers last November. He hopes to add value to the products the health care organization delivers by providing education and preventative care while putting patients first. “By focusing on those unmet needs,” he said, “by focusing on you as a holistic patient, by designing the proper prevention and chronic disease management programs, by helping you not only to stay out of the hospital but ensuring that you’re getting the right care at the right time, that adds the value to the system.”
Shortly after Mr. Kent assumed his current role CAC-Florida Medical Centers opened two centers in Orlando. Mr. Kent said the company is planning other expansions. With a Medicare-eligible patient base that is about 83% Hispanic, CAC-Florida Medical Centers often partners with the state, Medicaid and Medicare to create a benefit structure for patients with an income of less than $20,000 a year, Mr. Kent said, adding that health care reform is necessary to combat the rising costs associated with receiving care. A nurse by training, Mr. Kent said that his background has helped him understand and engage with physicians and staff to better serve patients. “We’re in the health care delivery space, so it’s critically important and fundamentally helpful to have a clinical understanding when you’re engaging staff, speaking with a physician or engaging the patient,” he said. “I love being in our medical centers. That adds credibility when you’re having conversations with a provider that you truly understand.” Mr. Kent discussed his career and CAC-Florida Medical Centers with Miami Today staff writer Patricia Hoyos at a Hialeah medical center.
The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl is on view at MAM from March 18 – June 10, 2012.
For many people, record covers have the capacity to trigger memories and convey emotion in the most personal way, making them significant not only as tangible connections to music, but for some, as a first encounter with visual art. Cover to Cover is an installation in The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl in which artists were commissioned to create an artwork by selecting twenty LP records based on cover visuals.
Miami Art Museum asked Miami-based collectors to choose four records from their own collections that are both personally meaningful and visually compelling. Hear their selections at MAM, during The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, on view March 18 – June 10, 2012.
The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl was organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and is curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art.
The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl is made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Major support is provided by Marilyn M. Arthur, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Duke University's Council for the Arts, the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, Charles Weinraub and Emily Kass, E. Blake Byrne, Barbra and Andrew Rothschild, Christen and Derek Wilson, and the Graduate Liberal Studies program at Duke University. This program is supported in part, by public funds from the Netherlands Cultural Services. Additional support is provided by Dr. and Mrs. Robert F. Allen, Catherine Karmel, Peggy and John Murray, Francine and Benson Pilloff, Caroline and Arthur Rogers, Olympia Stone and Sims Preston, Angela O. Terry, Richard Tigner, Nancy Palmer Wardropper, Peter Lange and Lori Leachman, Lauren and Neill Goslin, and Merge Records.
The Miami presentation is supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge. Additional support is provided by DJ Le Spam, JW Marriott Marquis, Ocean Drive Magazine, Scratch Academy, Smirnoff, Société Perrier, Stanton, Winter Music Conference, The Workshop, WPBT Channel 2 and WVUM-FM. The official cultural partners for The Record are: Grand Central, Lester’s, Rhythm Foundation and Sweat Records.
The United Way Miami Wine & Food Festival is back! In celebration of its 17th year,the event will be held for four days from Wednesday April 18, 2012 to Saturday April 21.
Each day of the festival will offer a unique culinary experience, so get ready to stimulate your palate!
On Wednesday April 18th at 7:00 PM at the Mary Brickell Village, the festival will kickoff with a “Brews & Bites Craft Beer Tasting.” Guests can expect to taste 50 different craft beers, and delicious food samples from 30 local restaurants.
Thursday April 19th will be all about wine tasting as the Village of Merrick Park hosts “Taste & Toast Fine Wine Tasting.” This outdoor event will include over 65 wine producers, more than 200 wines, and over 35 restaurants. Guests will even get the chance to interact with wine producers and chefs.
Friday’s event, “Food, Friends & Fun – Interactive Dinner,” will take place at the Fontainebleau at 7:30 PM. Guests will enjoy cooking their own dinners as Chef Kevin Sbraga, Bravo’s Top Chef Season 7 winner, interacts with each table. There will also be a live auction and silent auction held throughout the evening.
And last but not least, Saturday April 21st the festival closes with its highlight event “Cellar-bration – Good Food and Award – winning Wines.” Guests will enjoy an exquisite dinner under Fontainebleau’s Executive Chef Thomas Connell along with some of the best gold-medal winning wines.
For all you food and wine lovers out there, this is the perfect occasion to discover new delicacies and top wines from all over the world.
As Miami’s most prominent charity wine & food festival, all the proceeds will go to United Way of Miami-Dade as a way to enhance the areas of education, economy, and health.
On February 21, 2012 the fifth annual Knight Art Challenge Miami opened up to all applicants interested.
The purpose of this program is to motivate South Florida residents to unite the community with a unique and innovative idea for the arts.
All applicants are welcomed to share their ideas; the goal is to be able to choose from a wide range of applicants.
The application deadline is March 19, 2012, and there are three criteria for the challenge:
The idea must be relevant to the arts.
It must be held in or benefit South Florida.
The winners have to find investors to match Knight’s funds
Those who apply for the challenge will have the opportunity to ask questions about the challenge at the Town Hall Meeting on March 14, 2012 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center. The meeting will be held in English at 6:00 PM and in Spanish at 7:00 PM. There will also be a Creole translator present.
For the last four years, the Knight Foundation has funded over $17 million for the Arts Challenge projects. Some of the past challenge ideas are events that have become popular in South Florida. The Borscht Film Festival, The LegalArt Residency, and Sleepless Night Miami Beach, are all Art Challenge winning ideas.
Lorna Owens is a true inspiration to the women of the world. As a nurse, midwife, life coach, motivational speaker, author, talk show host, and an attorney, she has touched the lives of many by reaching out to those in need.
Originally from Jamaica, Lorna knew that she wanted to be a lawyer since the age of 12. Her mother, however, told her that lawyers do not go to heaven, so she decided to become a nurse. Nevertheless, Lorna still carved her way through university obtaining several degrees, including one in law.
Her most current project is the Footprints Foundation, which was founded in 2011. Its mission is to improve the life expectancy of mothers and infants in the DR Congo. The question here is, “Why the DR Congo?”
After having watched a CNN report on the DR Congo and learning about the numerous violent rapes that occur in this African country, Lorna was determined to find a way to help.
She actually traveled to the DR Congo this September 2011, and said it was “Life changing.” She discovered that so many women die right after giving birth, and a majority of the newborns do not even survive. In fact, the Footprints Foundation program will provide proper training for the midwives and traditional birth attendants of Congo. She plans to travel this July to the DR Congo with a group of nurses to begin the 3-week long training sessions. Her goal is to have these training sessions take place at least three times a year. This is Owen’s way of giving back to the African community, and what better way to help others than with something you do best.
As a woman who plays so many roles, time must always be an issue, but Owen says that it can all be done. “I just live in the moment, ” Owen explained while smiling.
It’s time to get Jazzed Up! As the city of Miami Gardens gets ready to host the 7th Annual Jazz in the Gardens on March 17th – 18th at the Sun Life Stadium.
The multicultural event will feature renowned jazz artists, but this year get ready to taste a unique soulful flavor of music with Miami’s own Sensere Gospel Group that will be performing for the first time at the Jazz in the Gardens festival.
This group of young and talented artists has been climbing their way up to the top with dedication and a profound love for God. James E. Wright III, started the group in 2003 with the vision of starting a band with diverse of instruments creating harmonious music.
With eleven members, four being vocalists, they produced their first album, The Soul of Future Worship Vol.1, in 2011.
It is only the beginning for the Sensere Gospel group as they plan to take on the world with their music. Their mission is to spread their love of God to others through their sounds. In fact, for them it’s not about taking it to the next level; it’s about taking it above and beyond.
Their performance at the Jazz in the Gardens Festival cannot be missed. They will touch the crowd with their amazing voices and shine a new light on Gospel music.
They will be playing on Sunday 18th as the opening act at 4 p.m.
Ysela Llort has spent a lifetime in transportation.
Before joining Miami-Dade County Ms. Llort worked as an assistant district engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, overseeing the Virginia portion of the Washington, DC region.
She was assistant secretary for intermodal systems development at the Florida Department of Transportation, where she was responsible for the executive management and operation of the department’s planning, environmental management and public transportation programs.
Upon moving to Miami-Dade, Ms. Llort served as an assistant county manager – overseeing the county’s many transportation departments, including the transit department, the public works department, the aviation department, the seaport, the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Following the 2011 county restructuring, Ms. Llort served as Miami-Dade Transit’s interim director from Aug. 2011 to Feb. 2012, when Mayor Carlos Gimenez officially appointed her to the position.
“One of the interesting things about working in government is that you have an opportunity to change people lives, but in order to do that you have to understand what it is that people want in terms of service,” she said. “Then you have to understand the options on how to make that happen. That only happens if you listen actively.”
In her first month in her new post, Ms. Llort said that she has been working on the county’s airport link metrorail project, which will offer an extension from Earlington Heights to Miami International. The project, she said, is 97% complete.
“That’s going to be a fabulous service,” she said. “The other challenge is to make sure that project could be delivered timely and cost effectively.”
Ms. Llort discussed her push to open the airport link station and increase transit ridership with Miami Today staff writer Ashley Hopkins in her downtown office.
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