Rosa de la Cruz, a global art collecting giant and Miami arts patron, dies at 81

Rosa de la Cruz, a globally lauded collector of cutting-edge contemporary art who opened one of Miami’s first private art museums with her husband Carlos, has died following a long battle with an autoimmune disorder. She was 81.

De la Cruz died peacefully in her Miami home early Sunday morning, according to longtime family friend and family spokesperson Bruce Rubin.

Although her health had deteriorated in recent years, de la Cruz remained actively involved in her family’s collection. She was at the museum just days before her death, Rubin said.

De la Cruz founded the nonprofit Moore Space in 2001 as one of Miami’s first private exhibition spaces. In 2009, she and her husband opened the De La Cruz Collection in Miami’s Design District to showcase their expansive art collection and offer lectures to the public for free. Holdings include works by Christopher Wool, Mark Bradford and the late Ana Mendieta; many have been loaned for inclusion in international exhibitions.

Even before the 2002 inauguration of Art Basel Miami Beach, the de la Cruzes often opened their Key Biscayne home by appointment to art enthusiasts and Miami-Dade public schoolchildren. During December’s annual Miami Art Week, they welcomed visiting VIPs and artists —including such well-known figures as the late John Baldessari — to their waterfront home to view installations by artists including Assume Vivid Astro Focus and Ugo Rondinone.

David Lawrence Jr., the former Miami Herald publisher, philanthropist and founder of The Children’s Movement of Florida, has known the de la Cruzes for three decades. He worked closely with Rosa as they both served on the board of the Miami Art Museum, now the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Rosa was a “wonderful person” who will be remembered in Miami as a community builder, Lawrence said.

“She cared fiercely about art. She cared fiercely about education,” he said. “She cared fiercely about Miami.”

Rosa was born in 1942 in Havana, Cuba, where she met her future husband. They married in 1962 and lived in Madrid and New York City before coming to Miami in 1975. Together, they created a close-knit family of five children, 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Carlos is the chairman of CC1 Companies, Inc., a privately held bottling and distribution empire that distributes Coca-Cola in Puerto Rico and other beverages throughout the Caribbean. Rosa served as the company’s director and treasurer.

Today, the family’s collection is estimated to hold well over one thousand pieces, according to ARTnews.

The philanthropic couple was recently honored with the Excellence Award from FACE (Facts About Cuban Exiles) and were celebrated for their focus on education. For more than a decade, the De la Cruzes have paid to send dozens of students from the New World School of the Arts and Design and Architecture Senior High (DASH) to New York and Europe to further their studies. Carlos credits Rosa’s efforts with making the travel program a success.

Because of that program, Rosa’s legacy will truly be felt decades from now as those young artists go on to create incredible work, said Alberto Ibargüen, a longtime friend and former John S. and James L. Knight Foundation president and CEO. The Knight Foundation helps fund the student trips.

Every year, he said, his favorite scheduled meeting was with the students after they returned home. He recalled one student who grew up with a poster of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in his room. To see it in person at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was life changing.

“She had a really clear sense of how important it is to have a broadly educated public if you’re going to have the arts thrive in any community,” Ibargüen said. “She was always, always pushing for art that had meaning, that had impact. Schlock art doesn’t move anybody.”

Rosa was well known for her fierce passion and strong opinions, especially when it came to politics and art. She was staunchly anti-Castro and channeled her fire into advocating for Cuban and Latin American artists, Ibargüen said. He lovingly described her with the Spanish phrase, “No tiene pelos en la lengua.” Rest assured, she always spoke her mind.

In fact, that is exactly how they met. As Lawrence was stepping down from the Herald as its publisher, he received a phone call from Rosa who had much to say about the paper’s inadequate coverage on Cuban artists. Lawrence suggested she speak with the new guy, Ibargüen. Carlos and Rosa invited him to their home, which was like “having dinner at a small museum,” he said. They bonded over their love for art and respect for artists.

Few collectors live and breath the stories of artists the way Rosa did, her friends said. Ibargüen recalled one of many times she gave a tour of the art in her home to a group of people. One person noted a strange looking sculpture made by a Cuban artist: a piece of wood, a metal pole and a light. He didn’t get it. “Rosa, what does it mean?”

Rosa wasted no time diving into the art’s symbolism, Ibargüen said.

“This is a cry in the wilderness,” Rosa told the guest. “This is a signal to the rest of the world. We’re still alive. We’re still here.”

For Donna Shalala, a longtime politician and former University of Miami president, the best way to describe her dear friend Rosa isn’t in English or Spanish, but in the Latin “Sui Generis.” Truly unique. One of a kind. In a class of her own.

Years ago, Shalala was stilling working in the Clinton administration when the University of Miami announced she would be the next president. She was in Washington D.C. eating at a cafe when Carlos approached her. He was eating dinner with his wife and wanted to introduce them. Rosa, who was extremely passionate and vocal about the Elián González case, was a bit wary of Shalala at first. That swiftly changed.

“We were just warm friends,” Shalala said. “Once she was your friend, there was nothing like it.”

Shalala remembers the time she needed help selecting art to hang in the president’s house at UM. Rosa brought some of her own artwork, expertly sifted through works already there and helped turn the house into a more beautiful home. Though Rosa wasn’t born here, she was a “daughter of Miami,” Shalala said. Most of all, she said she’ll remember Rosa for how deeply she cared for Miami’s children and their opportunities.

“Her contributions to the community are enormous, but her contributions to individuals, to a newbie to Miami like me when I came in 2001,” Shalala said. “I just loved her. And I’ll miss her.”

Indeed, Rosa knew how to make an impression on people. Speaking by phone Sunday, Carlos remembered how he met his wife of over 60 years.

He had been attending boarding school in the United States and came back to Cuba in the 8th grade. Around Christmas, Rosa’s parents invited him to an agricultural fair. He was 14. She was 13. They’ve been together ever since.

Last Monday, Rosa hosted grandchildren at their home for a family dinner, Carlos said. As the week went on, she felt worse and worse. A nurse called Carlos, who was traveling in Asia with his son, to speak with Rosa so he could convince her to leave an IV in her arm. The couple was speaking over the phone when she died of a massive pulmonary embolism. Though they were thousands of miles apart, in a way, they were still together.

Still reeling from the news, Carlos described his wife as a persistent and strong willed woman who was always “seeking to improve other peoples’ lives.” She was a person of principal who fought for what she believed was right, he said.

“She speaks her mind. She doesn’t mince words,” he said. “She’s like a force in the river, a current.”

A mass in honor of Rosa de la Cruz’s life will be held on March 1, 11 a.m., at St. Agnes Church, 100 Harbor Drive, Key Biscayne. A celebration of life will be held on March 2, 2:30 p.m., at the de la Cruz Collection, 23 NE 41st Street. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Miami Foundation New World School of the Arts Travel Fund and/or the DASH young designers scholarship fund.

Jane Wooldridge contributed to this report.

This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.