Crowd funding arrives in Cuba

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Havana (CNN) -- Rafael Villares is a talented Cuban artist who appears to work effortlessly in mediums such as painting and sculpture.

But for years, he has had an even more ambitious project in mind, one that seems like a fantasy from a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel.

"The idea would be to follow in the footsteps of the first explorers to Cuba and photograph the northern and southern coasts to create one panoramic image," he said. "It would be one horizon, so you can't tell if it's an island or a continent. It's a search to capture Cuba's geography in 2012."

Villares never attempted his journey though, and not just because of the immense logistical challenges and government restrictions.

His biggest obstacle was there was zero funding available for the trip. While artists abound in Cuba, they, like everyone else, face constant shortages in materials and a United States economic embargo that complicates the sale of their work.

But now, two years after scrapping his plans to travel and photograph the island, Villares has the $1,300 he needs for his journey.

Rafael Villares received $1,300 from Yagruma to shoot a panoramic image of Cuba.

The funds came from an unexpected source, a website called Yagruma. Named for a tree native to Cuba, Yagruma is the first crowd-funding website aimed at helping artists finance projects in Cuba.

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Cuban artists find financial support online