As part of my time in Miami, I wanted to spend more time connecting with galleries and artists.
On one of my first days there, I was invited to an evening at The Fountainhead Residency which is where I was an artist in residence last year. The event was a private event with Young Arts Foundation, who were supporting one of the current artists in residence, James Allister Sprang. Guests were invited to the home of Kathryn and Dan Mikesell who run The Fountainhead Residency to view their incredible collection, and then to visit the studios of the artists in residence; James, Matthew Morrocco and Shath Al Deghady.
Kathryn and Dan Mikesell are such committed supporters of artists and it was wonderful to hear them talk about their programme and how they intend to grow it over the years, as well as meet many other people from their membership community who are passionate about supporting art.
I was really excited to visit The Bass Museum of Art this year as it was undergoing a refurbishment when I visited last year. The building was designed as a library and art center by Russell Pancoast in the 1930s and was established as the BASS Museum of Art in 1964, with the collections of John and Joanna Bass. I was very kindly given a tour of the current exhibitions by Leilani Lynch, the assistant curator. I really loved the work of both artists Paolo Pivi and Aaron Curry, and the gallery spaces themselves are interesting and quite varied in scale and shape.
The ICA Miami was also closed on my last visit as undergoing refurbishment. This gallery is located within what is now known as the Miami Design District which has changed over time but now contains a large amount of very high-end designer stores. It was interesting to see the gallery spaces and the selected work on show from their collection.
I also had the opportunity to meet with Mindy Solomon of Mindy Solomon Gallery in Little Haiti to view her gallery and have a chat about the Miami art scene in general and my artwork. I have been following her gallery online since my last visit and really like the work of her selected artists and exhibitions.
I was also fortunate to revisit the studio of Loriel Beltran in Miami, an artist whose work I really admire, as well as visiting the studio of artist duo Nice N Easy whose work I have also been following online since my last visit where I saw their installation at Locust Projects. It was great to discuss both their practices and I would love to work with them both in Manchester, so watch this space!
My last visit on my last afternoon was to Art Center South Florida on Miami Beach to catch up with them on their programme which has seen them recently award over $500,000 to support Miami based artists to develop their work. It was also great to see their project space for the first time with the exhibition Parallels and Peripheries, curated by Larry Onsei-Messah. The project space itself, which is within an original 1930s building on Lincoln Road Mall on Miami Beach has incredible curved walls which would be a delight to work with.
It was a wonderful return visit to Miami, and I’ll hopefully be returning again, fingers crossed!
