By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The rhythm of Celia Cruz’s voice has outlived every stage she ever graced. Today, that rhythm fills the galleries of the Coral Gables Museum as Happy 100th Birthday, Celia! is open to the public, marking the centennial of the Queen of Salsa and the enduring joy she gave the world.
On view from now through February 22, 2026, the exhibition brings together more than three decades of photographs by Alexis Rodríguez-Duarte and Tico Torres, two Cuban-born, New York–based artists whose friendship with Cruz revealed sides of her rarely seen by audiences. Their portraits, spanning the singer’s private and professional worlds, capture not just her sequins and smile but her grace, humor, and humanity.
A centennial with purpose
More than an exhibition, Happy 100th Birthday, Celia! positions Cruz within the larger story of the Cuban diaspora and Latin music’s rise as a global force. Through the lens of Rodríguez-Duarte and Torres, visitors witness how she embodied resilience in exile and pride in heritage.
In partnership with the Celia Cruz Foundation, the museum extends the tribute beyond its walls. Programs launched in tandem with the exhibition will fund music-education initiatives and community performances throughout South Florida. Foundation founder Omer Pardillo said the collaboration ensures that Cruz’s “voice and generosity continue to inspire young musicians to find their own rhythm.”
Behind the camera
Rodríguez-Duarte and Torres, both NY Emmy Award winners for their CUNY TV segment Nueva York: Alexis Rodríguez-Duarte, Tico Torres, have spent decades chronicling artists whose lives reflect the intersections of identity and art. Their friendship with Cruz began in the 1980s and evolved into a creative partnership lasting fifteen years.
Their images show her laughing backstage, sharing coffee between rehearsals, and embracing fans with the same warmth she gave audiences from Havana to New York. The pair’s earlier book Presenting Celia Cruz serves as a visual cornerstone for the new show, which expands the archive with never-before-seen prints and ephemera.
A city that keeps the beat
For the museum, the centennial exhibition reaffirms its growing role as a crossroads for Latin American and Caribbean art. The museum’s director described Cruz’s legacy as “the sound of cultural resilience,” a theme that resonates deeply in a city built by immigrants who carried music in their suitcases.
By dedicating this weekend to her memory—and by officially naming November 6 as Celia Cruz Day—the City Beautiful once again ties its civic identity to the arts. The gesture echoes Coral Gables’s broader cultural mission: to celebrate creativity that unites rather than divides, and to give space to voices that continue to move the world.
Enthusiasm anchored in history
Cruz’s centennial is renewal. In a year that has seen new generations rediscover her recordings on streaming platforms and classroom playlists, the Coral Gables Museum’s tribute anchors that enthusiasm in history. The exhibition invites visitors to feel what her audiences always did: that joy is a form of courage and rhythm a universal language.
As her unmistakable cry of ¡Azúcar! rings once more through Coral Gables, the city stands as both stage and audience for a legacy still dancing its way across time.
Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff
Originally established in 1996 and relaunched as a digital publication in February 2025, the Coral Gables Gazette is an independent local news organization dedicated to factual, objective and accountable community journalism. Our newsroom reports on the people, policies, institutions and events shaping Coral Gables, Florida, providing residents with timely, informative coverage of the issues affecting their community. Our reporting includes City Hall, local government, municipal elections, public spending, real estate development, business, education, arts and culture, and neighborhood affairs throughout the City Beautiful. We follow City Commission decisions, examine public records and report on the businesses, organizations and individuals contributing to Coral Gables. We believe informed residents are essential to a healthy, engaged community. Stories published under the Coral Gables Gazette News Staff byline are prepared or compiled by the publication's editorial team. We strive for accuracy, fairness, transparency and clear distinctions between news reporting, opinion and advertising. Readers are encouraged to submit news tips, corrections, editorial inquiries and story suggestions through our Contact page and learn more about our standards through our Editorial Policy.
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