Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator is a creative entrepreneurial laboratory based at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus. RA+DI’s mission is to bridge the gap between creative practitioners and entrepreneurial success while promoting innovation within the FIU community.

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About RA+DI

Our core program offers one to two-year fellowships to students in the disciplines that compose the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts (CARTA) providing a supportive ecosystem to turn their ideas into viable products, services, and businesses within a socially conscious, co-creative, mentorship, and mindset focused environment.

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator was founded in 2017 with a grant from The Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation.

Become a Ratcliffe Fellow

Apply for Cohort 8 →

Tech Conversations Podcast

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at Florida International University presents “Tech Conversations”, talks with experts innovating at the intersection of technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

Hosted by Director, Dr. Jacek J. Kolasiński, producer Maggie Salas-Amaro and guest co-hosts Neil Ramsay and Dimitry Saïd Chamy.

Tech Conversations Podcast

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Vision

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at FIU seeks to bridge the gap between talent and entrepreneurship success while promoting innovative art + design within the community.

Mission

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator is dedicated to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity and inspire the next generation of future entrepreneurs actively participating to the exponential growth of South Florida’s creative economy.

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News + Events

Fellowship Program

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator’s signature Fellowship Program offers a creative ecosystem of guidance and expertise and financial support to Fellows selected from across FIU’s CARTA college. New cohorts are selected every year and announced in August. The fellowships last 1 year with a second-year option for qualified candidates.

Entrepreneurial Residents

The RA+DI Entrepreneurial Residency program invites noted creative entrepreneurs to develop their practices in community and collaboration with the incubator while engaging with our Fellows as mentors.

  • 05 Shireen Rahimi PhD
  • 04 Paul G. Cuschieri
  • 03 Max Pierre
  • 02 Lauren Shapiro
  • 01 David Anasagasti

Microcredentials

RA+DI is developing digital micro-crendential badges available to our fellows and the wider community through the Credly platform. Our first releases are Fundamentals of Business Development for Creative Practitioners and Fundamentals of Podcast Production and AI Integration:

FIU Badge for Fundamentals of Business Development for Creative Practitioners

Fundamentals of Business Development for Creative Practitioners

Developed within the Ratcliffe Art and Design Incubator – College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts, this badge recognizes the development of the mindset and skills needed to align a creative practice with a business model. Earners are familiar with the language of entrepreneurship; can move from a creative idea to a sustainable product and business model; develop strategies to connect and engage with customers; and use a canvas to define and model their business ideas.

FIU Badge for Fundamentals of Business Development for Creative Practitioners

Fundamentals of Podcast Production and AI Integration

Developed within the College of Communication, Architecture and The Arts, this badge recognizes foundational knowledge in podcasting, storytelling, audio production, branding, distribution, monetization, and AI-driven tools. Earners can understand the core elements of podcasting, identify the key stages of content creation, and recognize how these skills impact media landscapes and audience engagement. Badge earners are equipped with valuable tools to launch and grow their own podcasts.

Faculty

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Jacek J. Kolasiński MFA, PhD

Program Director / Professor. Areas of expertise: art and history, emerging digital technologies, 3D design and rapid prototyping, 3D printing and scanning, public art and social practice, exhibition curation, video installation, multi-channel projection and multimedia environments, cross-cultural visual communication, curriculum development and academic administration.

kolasins@fiu.edu

Jacek J. Kolasiński, Ph.D. is the founding director of the Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator and a professor in the Department of Art + Art History at Florida International University, where he served as the department chair for six years.

As an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and curator, Kolasiński is engaged in a very dynamic field of creative practice that undergoes constant and rapid change. An essential aspect of his research/creative activities involves his profound interest in engagement through human interaction and social discourse within the public and social realm. He is particularly drawn to the notion of convergence, often described as “spatial practice,” which connects a variety of architectural and artistic engagements with the city, society and aesthetic practices at large. Through his creative work, Kolasiński has tested complex trans-disciplinary collaborative

productions, multimedia installations, single and multiple channel video projections, 3D digital fabrications, as well as community-based and site-specific projects.

Kolasiński’s artwork and curatorial projects have reached large international audiences through presentations and exhibitions in numerous venues, including the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato, Mexico; 61 Festival de Cannes – Short Film Corner; Cinema Politic, Barcelona, Spain; Digital Fringe, Melbourne, Australia; Art Academy of Latvia; Vilnius Academy of Arts; Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw; and Tianjin University, to name a few.

His ongoing Creole Archive Project explores transnational connections between Poland and the global South, and Haiti in particular. In 2020, he was awarded a Library Research Grant at the Getty Research Institute to explore the Association Connaissance de l’histoire de l’Afrique contemporaine (ACHC) collection.

Kolasiński came to the United States from Poland, where he studied history and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He received his MFA from Florida International University in Miami, and his Ph.D. from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. In 2018, Kolasiński was made an honorary member (Academia Artium Latviensis Socius Honoris Causa) of the Art Academy of Latvia.

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Neil Ramsay MS

Faculty Research Associate. Areas of expertise: creative economics, strategic design, venture partnerships, integration of artistic-thinking in business contexts, developing alternate solutions to social and commercial challenges, functionally tinkering with nonlinear processes in problem-solving, business management constructs applied to institutional hierarchies.

nramsay@fiu.edu

Neil Ramsay is visiting faculty in residence at Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator and instructor for design and visual arts at Florida International University. He also works as a NEW INC mentor, Hudson Community Incubator advisor, creative capital consultant, founder of the experimental art space, ArtsUP! and concepts, and a consulting director of FATVillage Arts District in Fort Lauderdale.

As a creative economist, business advisor, designer of experiential learning platforms, artist, speaker and mentor with an interest in nonlinear solutions, his current practice focuses on a cross-sector integration of economics, art, and education. He has a professional history ranging from clinician to controller across industries: medical, maritime and e-commerce. Ramsay spent several years in what he endearingly refers to as “the world behind non-disclosure agreements,” consulting early-stage companies. He has also observed a broad range of internal business operations, a spectrum he believes helped form a lateral problem-solving style in the support of new projects/ventures.

Ramsay was born in London, England. He now spends his time between South Florida and New York.

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Dimitry Saïd Chamy MFA

Faculty Research Associate / Resident Artist & Designer. Areas of expertise: design branding and corporate, product & experiential design, graphic design, content and exhibition curation, 3D modeling and visualization, presentation and motion graphics, writing for business / persuasion, small business coaching and development, UI/UX, interactive and web development, surface & pattern design.

dchamy@fiu.edu

Dimitry Saïd Chamy is a transdisciplinary artist, designer, and cultural producer. He works with hybrid generative systems using collaboration, creativity, and play to evoke what is lost, examine the present, and explore the possible—grounded in his diasporic journey as a queer Haitian-Lebanese immigrant and his love of nature, science, and storytelling.

Chamy received a 2021 Oolite Arts Creator award and has exhibited at Locust Projects, Miami, Beijing Design Week, New York Fashion Week, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. In 2022, he was an assistant curator and producer of The BluPrnt Show, curated by Robert Chambers with 395 artists spanning a 120+ year cross-section of Miami art which The New York Times featured as expressive of the city’s historical significance as a global art center.

Chamy holds an MFA from Yale in graphic design. He has taught at six American universities and served as an Erasmus+ Scholar and Honorary Chair at the Art Academy, Riga, Latvia. He is a Research Associate and Resident Artist at the Ratcliffe Art & Design Incubator at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, where he bases his studio.

Maggie Salas Amaro

Maggie Salas-Amaro MS

Podcast Producer / Social Media Coordinator. Maggie Salas-Amaro is an award-winning producer and media executive. During her media career, she has worked for some of the world’s most successful brands including Viacom, The Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal, FOX, Hola! TV and Univision. Currently, she produces and co-hosts the podcast “Tech Conversations “created by the Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at Florida International University. Salas-Amaro currently leads Canela Kids part of Canela Media the first AVOD for Hispanics in the US and Latin America. In 2023, she was recognized by the Worldwide Women’s Audiovisual Association (WAWA), as an honorary member for her 30 years of career in media.

msalasam@fiu.edu

Maggie Salas-Amaro is an award-winning producer and media executive. During her media career she has worked for some of the world’s most successful brands including Viacom, The Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal, FOX, Hola! TV and Univision. Currently, she produces and co-hosts the podcast “Tech Conversations “created by the Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at Florida International University.

In 2022, she joined Canela Media as Director of CANELA KIDS to spearhead the rollout of a new children’s content platform. The new offering is set to launch on Canela.TV, Canela Media’s AVOD streaming service for Hispanics, in the coming months. At launch, there will be several curated channels, a slate of originals, and over 3,000 hours of content. The stand-alone APP and 7 new linear channels were successfully launched in January 2023. In 2023, the animated series SuperEllas was awarded a Gracie and a Telly Award in the categories of family and digital . Salas -Amaro was also recognized by the Worldwide Women’s Audiovisual Association (WAWA), as an honorary member for her 30 years of career in media.

During her career, she has headed up several launches at EW Scripps, Univision, NBC Universal, including the content strategy of the first global channel under the iconic magazines’ HOLA! /HELLO! TV(*A joint venture between DirecTV Latin America. Hola publishing and Antena 3). Among her accomplishments was acquiring content, including renowned talents with David Rocco, Rachel Hunter and Mario Lopez. In her role, the network was successfully launched in September 2013 for Latin America, and in May 2014 for the US Hispanic market. The network reached the Top 10 ranking as one of DirecTV’s most popular variety channels.

Previous to HOLA! she served as the Channel Director for Fox International Channels overseeing lifestyle and entertainment for the US Hispanic market and Latin America. Under her watch top talents such as Food Network Star, Aaron Sanchez was hired for an original production: “Aaron loves NY”. Among other accomplishments she led the Launch of the US Hispanic feed exclusively on DISH and rebranded the channel’s dayparts (Daytime and Primetime), creating new daypart branding such as: “Noches Utilisima”. The channel grew year to year 45% in ratings pan-regionally in Latin America and captured a 39% ratings growth Sept–Dec. 2010 for the US Hispanic market.

In her early career, she played a key role in the launch of Nickelodeon in Latin America and then Brazil acquiring key content and launching several regional initiatives including, “Premios Kids Choice”. Under her leadership, the network premiered the first interactive kid’s events in the region. She later joined The Walt Disney Company to rebrand FOX KIDS to JETIX (Now Disney XD) and relaunch the network developing new content and adding additional programming feeds. She identified key franchises that ranked the networks in the top 5 pan-regional kid’s channels.

Salas-Amaro began her career in television at NBC News in New York in the PAGE program, and later joined WTVJ-NBC 6, as news assignment editor. She also held the positions in the public relations department and was Associate Producer in charge of entertainment segments for the local magazine show, “Live at Eleven”.

Ms. Salas-Amaro, is a South Florida native and an alumnus of the Florida International University School of Journalism + Media. She also earned a Master of Management degree from the University of Phoenix School of Business.

Octavio J. Visiedo MS

Faculty Research Associate. Mr. Octavio J. Visiedo is a lifelong educator and had the honor of being the first Cuban American Superintendent of Schools in the history of Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). Mr. Visiedo was also the first MDCPS graduate to lead the 4th largest school district in the nation from 1990 to 1996.

ovisiedo@fiu.edu

Mr. Visiedo began his employment with MDCPS as a 19 year old bus aide at Ada Merritt Junior High School. Mr. Visiedo ascended through the ranks and served as an Assistant Principal, Principal, Director, Executive Director, Assistant Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent which uniquely prepared him to lead MDCPS through historically challenging times. Mr. Visiedo was appointed to the position of Superintendent of Schools at the age of 39, making him at the time the youngest urban school Superintendent in the nation.

Under Mr. Visiedo’s leadership the $1.5 billion capital construction program that languished for several years was placed on track, Pre-kindergarten programs expanded dramatically, raised over $3.5 million dollars of private funding for scholarships, dramatically improved the academic performance of MDCPS students at all grade levels and most significantly, led the recovery for MDCPS after Hurricane Andrew, at the time, the single largest national disaster in the history of the United States. As a result, Mr. Visiedo was honored by the South Florida community for being one of the Heroes of Hurricane Andrew.

In search of different challenges, he moved to the private sector. He proceeded to raise over $55 million in Wall Street to establish Chancellor Academies and a variety of other educational related enterprises throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico.

Currently Mr. Visiedo serves as a Faculty/Research Associate with Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at Florida International University. This initiative aims to promote and foster social entrepreneurship and innovation among upcoming FIU artists and designers.

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Carlos Fueyo MArch

Faculty Research Associate. Creative director and visual effects designer Carlos Fueyo ’08 has cultivated a successful career blending the two things he loves most – architecture and film. Carlos Fueyo was drawn to design and film from a very young age, always wondering how such awe-inspiring works were created. Today, he is fortunate to work in the fields he is passionate about, continually amazed by the possibilities within them.

cfueyo@fiu.edu

Transitioning from architecture to film, Carlos Fueyo has amassed over 15 years of experience as an artist and supervisor. His impressive portfolio includes work on renowned films like “Supers” and “Avengers.” He approaches every new project with the same passion and curiosity as if it were his first.

Among his notable achievements, Carlos served as the Virtual Art Department Director for “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom” (2023), adding depth and life to its underwater realm. He continued in this capacity, contributing his unique vision to the multidimensional narrative of “3 Body Problem” (2024) and the captivating underwater scenes of “Meg 3” (2023).

As the VFX Supervisor for “Wonderwell” (2023), he played a crucial role in shaping the film’s visual narrative. His creative pursuits also led him to direct and lead projects such as the commercial short film “Replica” (In Production), Aston Martin’s Bond DB5 (SPEC Short) in 2020, “Megacoach: A Syd Mead Tribute” (SPEC Short) in 2020, “Exodus” (SPEC Commercial) in 2020, “Deserted” (SPEC Short) in 2020, “Lair:Journey” (Online Commercial) in 2019, and he contributed as an illustrator to “Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains” (Publishing) in 2020.

“Do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life.” This guiding principle has steered Carlos through a remarkable career, and he eagerly anticipates each new project with enduring enthusiasm and curiosity.

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Joyce Billet MS

Year II Program Fellowship Mentor. Joyce Billet (b. Paris, France) is a French-American artist living and working in Miami, FL. Her background in architecture has encouraged her to play with material and textures in an effort to mix the sensations of painting and sculpture. By questioning material, process, and purpose, Billet’s work presents a dialogue between the analog and the digital via themes surrounding nature, absence, and materiality. Central to Billet’s practice is a desire to foster conversations about how humanity can coexist with nature while embracing technology.

Billet was invited as a Special Project two years in a row at Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach, 2021 and 2022. She was awarded an Art in Public Places opportunity from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs in 2023, and an artist residency accompanied by a solo exhibition in the Miami Design District in 2024.

Billet graduated with a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Pratt Institute in 2008, and later a Master of Science degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in 2010. She has worked at firms such as Norman Foster in London, UK and Studio Daniel Libeskind, New York. Billet was the Director of Store Design at CHANEL from 2013 – 2018 before committing to her artistic practice full-time.

The Ratcliffe Foundation

The Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator was founded in 2017 with generous and continuous support from The Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation whose vision continues to guide our programs and provides funding for key faculty, equipment, and our fellowship stipends.