Diaspora Vibe Gallery is hosting artists Jorge Rojas and Wura-Natasha Ogunji as artists in residence in the National Performance Network Visual Artist program.

``What they bring to the Miami art scene is a fresh new energy that pushes the boundaries of the everyday art scene,'' says Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Diaspora's director and curator. ``Both artists work in a medium that challenges artistic ideas.''

Rojas will create My space: Miami, the fifth in a series of interactive works titled Live Gestures that began in Guadalajara, Mexico, and has traveled to Brooklyn, the Bronx, and West Chicago. He will turn the gallery space into his home and studio for seven days and he will interact with the public in the gallery and online through a 24-hour live video broadcast on BlogTV.com at www.blogtv.com/People/myspace.

Ogunji will create Soundings, a public performance piece recorded at various locations -- Brazil, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and the United States (including Miami) -- in which black women develop and choreograph movements based on deep knowledge and body memory. The recordings will become part of a multichannel video to be screened after Ogunji completes her recordings around the world. In Miami, she's collaborating with local artists and community members to create the work, in which she uses thread to connect women in a circle as they interact with each other.

Diaspora is at 3938 N. Miami Ave., in the Design District.

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

BACARDI MURAL

MOVED TO GABLES

The famed Bacardi mural Waiting for Coffee by Cuban master Antonio Gattorno -- painted in 1938 and housed at the Bacardi offices on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami for more than 40 years -- has been moved to the new Bacardi offices at 2701 LeJeune Rd., Coral Gables. It is not accessible to the general public.

Gattorno painted his depiction a Cuban countryside scene -- guajiros at work in a sugar cane field and at rest under a bohio, a goat nearby -- at the New York Bacardi office's corporate lounge in the Empire State Building. In 1963, the mural was shipped down and installed on the seventh floor of the new Miami headquarters, where it delighted visitors until now.

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

VIZCAYA MUSEUM

MAKES BOOK

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is one of 30 estates featured in an elegant volume by renowned French publisher Gallimard on historic homes around the world -- Palais, Villas & Chateaux. The Miami landmark was the only property showcased in all of North and South America. This spring, Vizcaya was the subject of an hourlong WPBT-PBS 2 documentary, which will screen again at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 and be marketed to PBS stations nationwide this fall.

Officials report that the estate museum has experienced increased attendance every month of this year. But Miami-Dade residents still get a summer break: buy-one-get-one-free admission through the end of August. Info: www.VizcayaMuseum.org.

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

GRANT TO HELP

CONSERVATION

The Wolfsonian-Florida International University on Miami Beach was one of 35 museums nationwide to receive a Conservation Project Support (CPS) grant in May from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The $34,718 grant will allow Wolfsonian staff to assess the museum's conservation needs and develop a strategic plan.

Two conservators from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts will spend a week at the Wolfsonian in December reviewing the collection. They will file a report listing conservation priorities and recommendations and lead a one-day workshop for the museum's collection staff.

TOWN HALL MEETING

FOR ARTS CALLED

The Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, an advisory board that reviews grant requests and cultural policy, has called a public meeting to discuss the potential impact on cultural programs of the proposed county budget.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez's proposed budget would eliminate almost all grants for cultural groups as part of sweeping service cuts and layoffs announced this month.

Seeking to cover a $427 million projected shortfall, Alvarez has proposed cutting the council's annual budget from $24.5 million this year to $13.2 million.

County commissioners can still make changes to the mayor's proposed budget, but they must complete the process by midnight Sept. 30.

The town hall meeting will take place 2 p.m. Monday at Miami Science Museum, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami. RSVP to culture@miamidade.gov or 305-375-4634.

-- DANIEL CHANG

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