by Nichole Smith, Montverde Academy
Ms. Salazar’s AP Spanish students at Montverde Academy recently had the opportunity to welcome Gloribelle Hernandez, an art educator from Cuba whose work centers on cultural identity, visual expression, and the evolving concept of beauty. Her visit marked a highlight in the unit Belleza y Estética, offering students a firsthand perspective on how art and culture shape the way societies define and experience beauty.
Mrs. Hernandez began by sharing her experiences as an artist and teacher, inviting students to consider how cultural context influences artistic values and aesthetic ideals. She emphasized that beauty is not universal—it is constructed, debated, and continuously reshaped by a community’s history, traditions, and worldview. This discussion connected directly to the unit’s second essential question: How do ideals of beauty influence daily life and individual identity?
By the end of the visit, students walked away with a deeper appreciation for the diversity of global aesthetics and a more nuanced understanding of how cultural values shape the artistic world, and Mrs. Hernandez left with a deep feeling of wanting to get back into painting for pleasure. In her own words, “these students have become the muse I have been looking for.”
Her insights not only enriched the curriculum but also reminded students that beauty is dynamic—constantly shifting, endlessly debated, and profoundly human.
