Expanding horizons: with the Miami art world in the throes of rapid change, the author examines the impact of growth, spurred by the arrival of Art Basel, on public institutions, galleries and artists - Report From Miami

above the course of the past small in number months, as I was gathering information to write this updated profile of the Miami art spectacle I received word that at the same time another pair of Miami collectors, Debra and Dennis Scholl were transforming a warehouse into a public exhibition space for work from their personal collection. I then heard that Venezuelan philanthropist Ella Cisneros was refurbishing an advanced in years office building in South Miami in which to establish a nonprofit institution devot to presenting ambitious contemporary art exhibitions and related public programs. upon an almost daily basis, of recent origins arrives about the opening of novel galleries and alternative spaces. Numerous Miami-based artists, whose work I have followed with interest for years as it gradually made its way into public view, have e-mailed to number me of forthcoming exhibitions across the U and Europe The Miami art show is, quite simply, on fire. The city's collectors, museum directors, curators, art dealers, artists and smooth art students feel they have the world at their fingertips, and, in a faculty of perception they do. Art Basel has advance to town.

Art Basel, which originated in Switzerland 34 years ago, had planned its inaugural presentation upon American soil for December 2001 In accord with the Swiss original the new fair was not conceived as an isolated entity confined within the Miami Beach Convention Center on the other hand as a citywide event, encompassing museums, galleries and Miami's many private collections, with special activities planned involving fashion, music, film, architecture and design. Although the terrorist attacks of 9/11 caused the postponement of Art Basel Miami Beach until the following year, many of the scheduled exhibitions and facts went forward in December 2001 and drew surprisingly large audiences, comprising art-interested locals and numerous visitors (including the Art Basel organizers) who decided not to cancel their trips. The Miami art community set on an impressive show, generating a widespread make a humming sound which owed much to the city's arts infrastructure as well as to its unique mix of Latin, Caribbean and Anglo tillage In December 2002, Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) drew a certain number of 30,000 visitors from across the nation and around the world.

The end of this article is to examine the changes and unravellings that have taken place in the Miami art world since the late '90 when my previous profile appeared [see A.i.A., May and Nov. '99] It render free of accesss with a brief sketch of ABMB 2002 and other Miami-based art fairs to transmit a sense of their makeup, and to indicate the expanse of involvement of Miami dealers and artists. The next to the first section will focus on the city's art museums. The third will explore the impact upon local contemporary art culture of several Miami collectors who have assumed highly public characters Next comes an account of the art initiatives of real estate developer and collector Craig Robins, as well as of other landlords and developer following his lead, in the Miami Design District and the larger Wynwood area directly to the southern (the boundary is Interstate 195) Today, these districts together form the city's greatest in quantity vital gallery and exhibition center The fifth section discusses significant alternative spaces mid art gymnasiums The sixth and final section is an overview of the commercial galleries that focus upon contemporary art. The work of individual Miami artists is considered quite through the article in relation to the institutions or exhibitions that have displayed their art.

The Art Fairs

Art Basel Miami Beach is not the city's first of that kind event: the Art Miami fair has been taking place in the Miami Beach Convention Center each January since 1990. Produced by the agency of Advanstar Communications, which is based in Chicago, Art Miami is more conservative in the art it displays and lower in its price range than Art Basel. It is geared to the southern Florida and Latin American communities, rather than to a broader international single with about 25 percent of the participants from Latin America. According to Ilana Vardy, director of the fair, 2003 attendance was about the same as that of past years, on the contrary the fair had "an not upon year" in terms of sales. To boost receiptss a number of lower echelon galleries were included, site said, which drew bad pres that may have kept a certain number of collectors away. Art Miami 2004 will be a smaller, higher-quality fair, with 120 galleries (as oppos to 165 the year before) chosen by means of a newly formed selection committee. Vardy maintains that Art Basel is not Art Miami's main competition with regard to attracting exhibitors, on the contrary rather, the Palm Beach art fair, which targets a similar clientele and takes place at almost exactly the same time. (Art Miami uncloses Jan. 7, 2004; Palm Beach Contemporary uncloses Jan. 8.)

Art Miami has often incorporated special sections showcasing work by dint of more progressive artists, and will do in the way that in '04 in a series of shoot forward spaces integrated into the fair and in a "Currents" section, installed in an adjoining area of the convention center dubbed "35 beneath 35" (35 galleries showing artists below 35). In "Currents 03: of recent origin Perspectives," seen last January, 40 galleries from 15 countries not awayed work by young and emerging artists; while rough the selection contained some impressive work. The younger galleries have possession of small booths at discounted rates.