Young artists take over Galería Habana, Tomás Sánchez opens a photo show in Madrid, a renowned photojournalist reveals his subaquatic side, and Alexi Torres solos in New York’s Chelsea. Cuba’s women ballplayers speak their minds on film, Maria Elena González joins a group show of Rauschenberg Foundation artists-in-residence, and Alexandre Arrechea’s skyscrapers grab a weekend in the Hamptons.

This year’s Documentary Fortnight film series at New York’s Museum of Modern Art featured “New Cuban Shorts,” a four-program series of recent documentaries by emerging directors. Nadine Covert reports on the films and the filmmakers who presented them.

Ríos intermitentes founder & artistic director María Magdalena Campos-Pons calls the project “an integral artistic intervention that aims to build a vibrant city.” We traveled to Matanzas for a closer look.

Far from the galleries of Vedado and Miramar, Máisel López fills the streets of his Havana barrio with art—specifically, portraits of neighborhood children. Lianet Hernández talks with López about his Colosos portraits and their impact, his dedication to working in grisaille, the Mexican muralists, and US artist Chuck Close.

This spring, the Lehman College Art Gallery is hosting Cuban America: An Empire State of Mind, a group show featuring more than 35 artists of Cuban descent. In a double email interview, co-curators Yuneikys Villalonga and Lehman gallery director Susan Hoeltzel talked about the exhibition, its concept, and what it means for the gallery.

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, one of the most popular and successful European filmmakers, will arrive in Havana on January 7, 2010 for a four-day visit.

In a conversation with Lidia Hernández Tapia, Rachel Valdés talks about making public art for crowded city spaces, the relationship between installation art and painting, and the challenges of bringing her art to Times Square.

Late last month, Marco Castillo—formerly of the group Los Carpinteros—opened The Decorator’s Home at UTA Artist Space, the new powerhouse gallery in Los Angeles. In an email interview with Cuban Art News, Castillo talks about the show, about recovering forgotten Cuban designers of the 1960s and 1970s, and reconnecting them with contemporary Cuban art and design.

Last month, Cuban-born artist Juan Pablo Ballester had his first Miami exhibition at the Farside Gallery. Dennys Matos spotlights the artist and his work in a close-up look at the solo show NoWhere.