A Mosaic of Hope

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MOSAICIST RAY CORRAL, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS, LAUNCHES A NEW FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS

BY J.P. FABER / PHOTOS BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

When Ray Corral began his career as a designer of glass mosaics, it was the residents of Coral Gables who became his first clients. That is something he has never forgotten. Now living in a historic home on Prado, Corral has spent the last few years “giving back” to community artists. 

One of his first philanthropic acts was to fund the gigantic “Moon Over the Gables” that hung above Ponce Circle Park in early 2023. Later that year, he founded the Corral-Cathers Fund, to give grants to individual artists. Earlier this year, in its third annual release of grants, he grew it from 10 to 13 artists, each receiving $5,000 checks.

Now Corral wants to expand that vision, working with the Coral Gables Community Foundation to set up a larger foundation, hoping to attract other members of the private sector to join.

“My company, Mosaicist, Inc, was literally born here in this city,” says Corral. “The first sales that I made were in Coral Gables, and I live in Coral Gables, and my company has thrived here… I started as an artist in this city, so I felt it was the right thing to do, to give back in some way.”

The need for private sector support of the arts has never been greater. Gov. Ron Desantis, in a fit of pique over one non-profit promoting transgender ideas, last year cancelled support for all arts organizations in the state. This sent art groups scrambling to make up the short fall.

“The impact of the [Governor’s] veto has been staggering,” said Brian May, Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, in his State of the Arts speech earlier this year. “Miami-Dade County lost $6.4 million in State cultural grants to 132 Miami-Dade nonprofit arts organizations. There is no question that losing State grants has hurt… funding is the life blood for the arts.”

The move by DeSantis, a pro-business governor, made no sense from an economic point of view. The arts in Florida have an enormous financial impact. A recent study by the Arts Action Alliance showed that, in Miami-Dade County alone, the cultural sector generates $2.1 billion in economic activity, creates 32,000 jobs, and draws 4.2 million “cultural tourists.” Statewide, the numbers are triple these figures, according to the state’s Division of Arts and Culture.

Corral wants the private sector to step up and fill the gap. To increase awareness in Coral Gables and facilitate the project, he is working with the Coral Gables Community Foundation, which has a long history of housing charitable foundations for local residents. 

“We want to get the story out there, that there’s this need,” says Mauricio Vivero, president and CEO of the Foundation. The Corral-Cathers fund, he says, which was set up as a donor-advised fund with the foundation, is being relaunched as the Mosaic Art Fund “as a way to build on that success and invite other local philanthropists to join in.”

Unlike other foundations supporting the arts, the idea is to funnel dollars directly to artists, rather than to artistic organizations – at least initially.

“By giving directly to artists who don’t have other support is really life changing, and the return on the investment is much higher,” says Vivero. “The money is limited so you’re trying to select things that have the greatest impact. A [small] check to an artist means more than a similar check to an institution with a $4 million budget. So, that is part of the strategy for the most impact in the quickest way.”

Left: Catherine Cathers,: “a check for $5,000 may not seem like that much, but it has changed lives and allowed artists to do things they could otherwise not do…”
Top Right: The 2025 Grants Reception
Bottom Right: Ray Corral, bottom right, with Catherine Cathers behind him, plus the 2025 artists who received grants

Corral says that, ultimately, his foundation can fund the larger non-profit arts organizations, but that the biggest bang for the buck right now remains with individual artists.

“I think we can build a bigger foundation to that gives back to the arts organizations, but the problem is that these [arts] seem like that much, but it has changed lives and allowed artists to do things they could otherwise not do – paying for supplies or renting studio space in order to produce their work. We have a large number of testimonials now.”

Says Mauricio, “Our mission is to support and provide the infrastructure for families and people like Ray that want to create positive impact. And there’s no better example than what this represents, a local leader, a philanthropist, tackling an issue, investing to make it better, and then inviting others to participate.”