This article by Fallan Patterson appeared in The Sun-Sentinel.

Elisa Lejuez scours the northern beaches of Aruba for natural material for her artwork. She tries to beat the beach cleaners poised to clear the sand of driftwood, rocks and other material before tourists arrive.

Lejuez created a series of pieces inspired by her native land’s cave paintings, which she toured and photographed before creating silk screen printings and combining them with healing stones, driftwood and rocks.

“They were very inspiring to me,” she said of the caves.

Lejuez’s artwork is on display in “Caribbean Colorful Diversity,” an exhibition celebrating Caribbean American Heritage Month and running through Aug. 28 in the Ansin Family Art Gallery at the Miramar Cultural Center.

“This is one of the loveliest art exhibits I’ve seen,” said Valerie Gammon, the center’s director of cultural affairs. “It really captured me.”

Haitian-born artist Asser Saint-Val’s pieces are created…

In Jamaica, Reggae Sumfest is set for July 12-18, 2015, with stage shows from Thursday to Saturday at Catherine Hall, Montego Bay. The festival begins with the Beachfest beach party at Aquasol Beach, the All-White Affair on Tuesday at Pier 1, and stage shows from Thursday to Saturday at Catherine Hall: Dancehall Explosion takes place on Thursday and Showtime on Friday. Performers include Beenie Man, Cocoa Tea, Jesse Royal, Capleton, Konshens, Dexta Daps, I Octane, Gully Bop, Popcaan, Jennifer Hudson, Spice, Demarco, and many more.

Of course, few festivals occur without a bit of scandal. Mark Cummings (Jamaica Observer) writes that organizers of Reggae Sumfest have renewed their efforts to get American R&B singer Chris Brown to perform at this year’s staging of the festival, as a replacement for hip hop artiste, Rick Ross, who is currently facing kidnapping and assault charges in the United States and subsequently was dropped…

AFROPUNK 2015 returns to Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park (City Park), for “a weekend of live music, vibrant art and good vibes” on August 22-23. As the AFROPUNK site explains: “Described by the New York Times as ‘the most multicultural festival in the US,’ the word AFROPUNK itself has become synonymous with open­-minded, non­conforming and unconventional, placing the institution at the epicenter of urban culture inspired by alternative music.” This year, the headliners are Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, and Lenny Kravitz. The festival will be preceded by the first annual AfroPunk Fancy Dress Ball, on August 21. AXS writes:

Aside from the headliners, Kelis, Danny Brown, Suicidal Tendencies and Thundercat are also scheduled to perform at the festival.

This year will mark the arrival of the first annual AfroPunk Fancy Dress Ball, which will serve as a pre-festival mixer on August 21 with performers such as Grace Jones and Mike Q in attendance. The goal…