WTDC Newsletter – December 4th, 2023
Holiday Hours
Closed – Christmas Day – December 25
Closed – New Year’s Day – January 1
President’s Corner
Miami Art Week is here! The city is buzzing with holiday visitors and dozens of art fairs. I encourage you to see some of the amazing exhibits all over South Florida this week including “Faith, Beauty, and Devotion: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Paintings” at Belen Jesuit’s Saladrigas Gallery and the Breakfast at the Park event at Florida International University’s Frost Art Museum.
Stay healthy,
Sean Gazitua, President & CEO
WTDC Pajama Drive
WTDC’s 9th annual Pajama drive supporting His House Children’s Home is underway! Please join us in donating new pajamas for girls ages 12-17 this year. We will be collecting until December 15th.
His House is a nonprofit, faith-based organization committed to restoring the lives of children ages 0-18.
For information on shipping and drop-off locations, please click here.
Miami International Airport
According to the latest data from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, Miami International Airport is on course to break their previous passenger record at 52 million. This new record would be 2.56% higher than their previous record set in 2022 at 50.65 million.
The surge of passengers is contributed to more international travelers who accounted for 41.2% of total travelers for the first 8 months of this year.
PortMiami breaking passenger number records
At the State of Global Ports Luncheon, PortMiami reported record breaking passenger numbers in 2023.
In 2023, the port achieved numerous infrastructure milestones including new shore power outlets for cruises, progress with their NetZero program, and construction of the world’s largest cruise terminal set to open in 2024.
Saladrigas Art Gallery
In celebration of Miami Art Week, Belen Jesuit Preparatory will have special viewing hours at the Olga M. and Carlos A. Saladrigas Art Gallery, extending their hours until 9:30PM on December 7th and until 2PM on December 9th.
The current exhibition is named “Faith, Beauty, and Devotion: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Paintings”. The exhibit features a collection of paintings from the 14th to 18th century. Pictured above and below is “Act of Devotion of Rudolph I of Habsburg, ca.1616”; a signature piece of the collection by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Wildens of the Baroque period.
The paintings are from the Frascione Fine Art Collection and the exhibit is organized by Sylvie Daubar-San Juan, Humanities Department Chairperson and Director of Saladrigas Art Gallery, Federico Gandolfi Vannini, a fourth generation art dealer and owner of Frascione Arte in Florence, Italy, and his wife Daisy Diaz , Cultural Director of the Gallery. The collection was founded in 1893 by Vannini’s great grandfather.
The exhibit will be open through December 16th.
Miami Art Week Event at the Gallery
Miami New Times – Belen Jesuit Gallery Puts Rare Renaissance Art on Display
Angel Tree
This time every year, WTDC donates to the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Project for the holiday season.
Part of Angel Tree’s mission includes sending Christmas gifts, hosting camping trips, and sports events for children of incarcerated parents to foster growth and encouragement.
Prison Fellowship – Angel Tree
19th Annual Breakfast in the Park
On Sunday, December 10th, the Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum will be holding their 19th Annual ‘Breakfast in the Park’ from 10AM-2PM. The event will include a complimentary breakfast as well as an artist lecture and guided tours of the sculptures around FIU campus.
Cookie Gazitua is a Senior Board Member of the Frost Art Museum.
Belen Football dinner
On Thursday, November 16th, Ralph and Cookie Gazitua hosted the Belen 7th and 8th grade football coaches, volunteer coaches, trainers, and their spouses for a Thanksgiving dinner at Graziano’s. WTDC Chairman and Deacon Ralph is a volunteer chaplain for the team on which his grandson plays.
