Musician, teacher and Stan Herd collaborator Bob Augelli next week is heading to Washington, D.C., to attend a summit on U.S.-Cuba relations.

“I’m hoping to continue the networking process with other individuals who share our perspective on normalizing relations with Cuba,” said Augelli, a percussionist and adjunct faculty member at Kansas University’s School of Business.

Augelli said Lawrence artist Herd, renowned for his crop art, would be unable to attend the Tuesday summit in person, but he would be there in spirit. Augelli will present each person at the meeting with a photograph of Herd’s “Rosa Blanca,” a piece of landscape art done in Havana that was completed last year.

Augelli is director of the Rosa Blanca Project, which will also include a 1-acre earthwork depicting the likeness of Cuban patriot and poet Jose Marti.

The summit will include addresses given by businessmen and politicians on U.S.-Cuba relations. It is being sponsored by the American Farm Bureau, Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba and other organizations.

“The summit is intended to send a compelling message to the Bush administration that there are a lot of us out there who want relations normalized,” Augelli said.

President Bush has said he opposes loosening restrictions against Cuba and has spoken harshly about Cuban leader Fidel Castro.