Community

Bass Museum of art offers a look at contemporary art Back then, John Bass, a talented musician and artist, born in 1891 in Vienna, wanted to study art but his father sent him to business school.

Like many artists who ply their trade in studios, warehouses, and garages around the world, David Zalben says it’s not about the money. It’s about connecting with people. “Every day I’m here is an opportunity to meet somebody new. It’s not just about making a sale.”

The three-story, 30,000 square foot structure that houses the Carlos and Rosa De La Cruz collection opened to an impressive turnout of visitors during Art Basel Miami Beach.

Miami, as most of us now know, is home to some of the most prominent and important contemporary art collectors in the world. They in turn have spawned a new generation of local connoisseurs, all of who have transformed South Florida into a true hot-bed for the art of collecting. So MAG decided to ask several of our serious scene makers about … +

The showing of contemporary art in Miami is real evidence of this area’s artistic maturation and its need to define itself as more than just a vacation spot. While the Miami Art Museum is one of the youngest such organizations here, its collections have been expanding and show the dedication of both the museum and its patrons to developing visual art in … +

Almost the only rich thing about cultural enrichment these days is the struggle these organizations face. If big business, local, state and federal governments are facing a grim economic scene, then cultural non-profits across the country will be destroyed by reduced funding and declining participation in the arts. However, some will survive, only to find even tougher conditions to operate in. And … +

Engages with and awards the local arts community. And the winners are… It’s a concern for every neighborhood, but with the current economic meltdown the country is experiencing, it is especially pressing: What action can be taken that will keep the arts scene vital?

In 8 short years, Wynwood went from total obscurity to internationally recognized arts hub – and now, it may be on the verge of a new journey once again. As Art Basel Miami Beach hits the sands for a 7th year, and as the global economic earthquake starts to give even the art world tremors, it seems a good time to take … +

For most of us thinking Art Basel Miami Beach week as the busiest time for the arts ever, well… it may have been so far, but getting outside of Miami for another art fairs gathering could prove us wrong. Although the first week of December in Miami seems to be getting out of hand (24 art fairs in 2007), it’s just a … +

Little I really know about the city’s public transportation system, about how it all works, or where it goes, or from where to where. However, Miami has it all: The Metrorail, the Metromover, bus-lines traces. It all make sense, or maybe it doesn’t – thinking on how many people I know that actually make use of public transportation in Miami. Except for … +

Art in Public Places is a program of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs dedicated to promoting creative art projects with the purpose of improving the visual quality of Miami-Dade County public spaces. For the last 35 years, the outcomes of the program have succeeded in transforming ordinary civic areas into artistic sites that not only have enriched the artistic dimension … +

What really is the place of alternative, non-commercial (which often translates to artist-run) spaces in a cultural community? The community’s history and sophistication play a part in such a determination – but in the end it’s the living, breathing participants themselves that make or break an alt scene.