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6th Annual Art of Black Miami Put Spotlight on Cultural Arts in Miami’s Heritage Neighborhoods

6th Annual Art of Black Miami Put Spotlight on Cultural Arts in Miami's Heritage Neighborhoods
Art of Black Miami Offers Unique Cultural Experience for Residents and Visitors during Art Basel and Miami Art Week

MIAMI – The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) kicked off their 2019 Art Basel season with the annual Art of Black Miami reception on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The kick-off tied sports and art by featuring past Super Bowl commissioned sculptor, George Gadson as speaker on the program as well as the Mayor of Miami Gardens (home of the Super Bowl), Oliver Gilbert.

The event is a precursor to the myriad of Art of Black Miami supported activations taking place during Art Week/Art Basel season that happens during the first part of December (December 1- 10) 2019.

The GMCVB’s Multicultural Tourism Development Department leads the Art of Black Miami program which is a marketing platform and destination driver that showcases the diversity of the visual arts locally, nationally, and internationally, celebrating the black diaspora.

This initiative highlights the artistic, cultural landscape found in Miami’s heritage neighborhoods and communities year-round throughout Greater Miami and the Beaches.

Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB)
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) Staff

The Art of Black Miami platform enhances and supports the arts in diverse ways to engage and help enhance the cultural renaissances and richness taking place in many heritage communities.

These events and programs also serve as a magnet for residents and tourists.

The GMCVB’s Art of Black Miami program is committed to promoting the creative influences of the African Diaspora, Caribbean influences, Latin Americans, and global artists who contribute to the fabric of Miami’s historic and diverse artistic community.

For more information on the GMCVB’s program,  Click here.

“In celebration of the 6th year of this program spearheaded by our Multicultural Tourism & Development Department, we continue to look for ways to elevate the program to attract visitors seeking art related experiences and make residents aware of the many cultural offerings to them as well,” said Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, President & CEO, William D. Talbert, III, CDME. “The GMCVB is committed to the Art of Black Miami marketing platform because it promotes the creative and organic influences of the African Diaspora, Caribbean influences, Latin Americans and other global artists who contribute to the fabric of Miami’s diverse artistic community.”

Bill Talbert, Nat Moore
Bill Talbert and Nat Moore

Art of Black Miami’s yearly arts and cultural programming fosters a landscape of intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue that helps to build a vibrant artistic ecosystem. The platform creates exposure for those who otherwise would not traditionally have access to them or be aware of the rich heritage history of that community.

“While there is access to great art throughout the year in Miami-Dade’s cultural communities, during this time of the year, it is exciting to hear of all the wonderful exhibits and events that take place specifically during Miami’s Art Week/Art Basel Season.  More and more the awareness is spreading locally, nationally and internationally about the multicultural artistic gems that we have in Miami and the GMCVB is happy to be the organizer of a program that strives to include all of Miami’s neighborhoods and communities into the larger marketing footprint,” says Connie W. Kinnard, VP of Multicultural Tourism & Development.

This year Art of Black Miami celebrates the exhibitions and curated art programming opportunities produced by art organizations, galleries, and spaces for attendees to experience in neighborhoods including Historic Overtown, Little Haiti, Little Havana, North Miami, Coral Gables, Downtown Miami, Miami Beach, and other surrounding areas.

Art of Black Miami Featured Events

A few Art of Black Miami featured events are listed below, and a full list of events can be found on Art of Black Miami’s website.

  • Historic Overtown 

9th Annual Art Africa Miami Art Fair 

The 2019 Art Africa Miami Art Fair (AAMAF) – A Retrospective commemorates nine years of social justice through diasporic arts. Art Africa Miami has always enjoyed a fellowship with an engaged and influential community of artists, community builders, residents, and all-around arts lovers committed to promoting contemporary art from the global Black community.

This year Art Africa Miami will focus on those artists who have been with fair since the launch.

These artists, both local and global, have become recognized as masters in their respective fields showing in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean.

Location for this year’s Art Africa Miami Fair-Plaza at the Lyric-919 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136

Public Hours: Wednesday, December 4th-8th, Noon-7pm, and Sunday, December 8th, Noon-5pm.

  • Little Haiti

Art Beat Miami Art Fair 

The 6th annual Art Beat Miami will feature five days of art, culture, food, fashion and music inspired by Haiti and the Caribbean.

South Floridians and tourists will see art from 40 emerging and renowned artists from the Caribbean and around the world, feel the beat of Haitian music while seeing art on the catwalk from local and national fashion designers, taste and enjoy curated fare from renowned Caribbean chefs, attend the fun-filled sip and paint affair and rub elbows with R&B award winning artist, Anthony Hamilton who will sign his book, Cornbread Fish ‘N Collard Greens: Inside the Music

Caribbean Marketplace: 5925 NE. 2nd Ave. Noon – 8 pm. Dec. 4-8

MUCE ARTS & Culture Festival 

Miami Urban Contemporary Experience (MUCE) and Zeal presents the exhibition Who Owns Black Art? Who Owns Black Art? Questions of Cultural Ownership, Art Show & Studio Immersion. Fifteen influential visual artists will generate compelling imagery that will unapologetically express their definition of Black art, the value and meaning of creative expression, culture, and heritage.

MUCE ARTS & Culture Festival will feature five (5) creative programming elements over five days. Experience art, music, ceremony, food, panel discussions, interactive place-making and many other engaging onsite activations at the MUCE Makers Campus.

MUCE Makers Campus 246 NW 54th St. Dec 5-9

  • Coral Gables 

Miami MoCAAD/Lowe Museum Art Week Basel Kickoff 

The Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (Miami MoCAAD) and Lowe Museum will co-sponsor an Art Basel Week Kickoff reception with a conversation that features artist Juan Roberto Diago and Alejandro de la Fuente, curator and founding director, Harvard Afro-Latin American Research Institute.

Erica Moiah James, University of Miami Caribbean Art History Professor, will moderate the conversation. Diago: The Pasts of this Afro-Cuban Present is the first retrospective of Juan Roberto Diago (b.1971).

This exhibition, presented by University of Miami Lowe Art Museum and the Harvard University Hutchins Center for African & African American Research in collaboration with Miami MoCAAD, offers over two decades of uninterrupted work and traces Diago’s singular efforts to construct new pasts–the pasts required to explain the racial tensions of contemporary Cuba.

University of Miami Lowe Art Museum Exhibition: through Jan. 19, 2020 1301 1301 Stanford Drive. Dec. 1 

  • Downtown Miami

Prizm Art Fair 2019

For its seventh edition, PRIZM will present the work of 39 artists within a curated exhibition entitled “Love in the Time of Hysteria” curated and organized by William Cordova, Ryan Dennis, Naiomy Guerrero, Oshun Layne, and Mikhaile Solomon.

Love in the Time of Hysteria illustrates how love, compassion, and respect endure in a social milieu riddled with divisive political rhetoric, unprovoked inflammatory attacks on members of marginalized communities, and broad societal malaise as a result of economic inequity.

Participating galleries include Black Art in America, Espace d’Art Contemporain 14°N 61°W (Martinique), Hearne Fine Art (Little Rock, Arkansas), Morton Fine Art (DC), N’Namdi Contemporary (Miami), Richard Beavers Gallery (New York), September Gray (Atlanta), Zucot Gallery, Corentyne Cottage House (New Orleans), and TILA Studios (Atlanta).

Alfred I Dupont Building 169 E Flagler St Miami, Dec. 2-8

  • Little Havana

Umbrellas of Little Havana Art Festival

The 7th annual “Umbrellas of Little Havana Art Festival” celebrates the spirit of Art Basel Miami with this unique organic festival which showcases the works of 43 local and invited artists. Art of all mediums will adorn Futurama Art Building in the iconic Little Havana Art District with hand painted patio umbrellas and the artist’s work displayed under.

Some of the participating artists will include: Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, Ali Ko, Blick Art Miami, Carlos Marin, Carlos Mederos, Catalina Correa, Crystal Garcia, Darwin Leon, Gonzalo Borges, Broomi, Jose Carlos Ruiz Rocha, Julio Roberto, Lety Lety, Manuel Bello, Marvin Weeks, Mikeya Brown, Miranda Pantano, Omar Corrales Mora, Oscar Deroy, Ramon Altamirano, Ulises Sierra, Jonathan & Jaime Olaya, Ramiro Collazo, Wendy Carey, King Redd.

Futurama Art Building 1637 SW 8th St # 115 Little Havana,  Dec 6-8

  • North Miami  

10th Annual Art Basel Panel Discussion on African Diaspora Art

The 2019 event will celebrate the rising interest in African Diaspora Art, The life and times of Nigerian Curator, Okwui Enwezor, curatorial activism, art and spirituality, and a 2019 market review on the economics of Contemporary African Diaspora Art.

This year’s panelists will include Dr. Moyo Okejedi Professor of African Art and Art History, University of Texas, Austin, Hannah O’ Leary Director of Modern and Contemporary African Art, Sotheby’s UK; Julie Walker, Art Critic; Sopo Aluko, Art Collector, Nigerian born Actress with credits from the Black Panther Movie and Dr. Cheryl Finley, Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture, Spellman College.

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami 770 NE 125th street

North Miami Dec. 8 12Noon-3pm.

South Florida Caribbean News

The SFLCN.com Team provides news and information for the Caribbean-American community in South Florida and beyond.

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