I write this looking out at another Nor’Easter pummeling Boston. It’s been a long winter and we are not even close to done yet.
This past Monday I returned from a week of flawless Miami Beach weather. It was my second year attending the same weekend in February due to the Wynwood Art Walk. My impression last year was of surprise. The juxtaposition of cutting edge graffiti against modern art galleries, within a transitional area of downtown Miami, is impressionable. Although some say that it has already been overshadowed as a night out for bar-hopping hipsters, I took away something else.
Galleries attract collectors and artsy types that seek them out. This second weekend of every month event does more than allow an art lover to see many galleries without an appointment, it offers all walks of life a chance to revel and observe. Museums have had that cornered for a long time but you can’t pick up a Warhol, or an unknown struggling artist’s work, if you’re feeling flush. To see so many attendees is a rarity for the art scene up here in Boston. We have Open Studios but it’s is delimited to a different section of the city per month. There are open markets but not the same.This concentration of creative cum entertainment offers a monthly chance to see the works of talented artists of many mediums in a consistent locale. And it goes beyond these second Saturdays. A major event happening over this upcoming President’s Day Weekend is Art Wynwood and it coincides with the International Miami Boat Show. This brings a lot of eyes out to the Midtown, Design District and Wynwood arts scene. All of this exposure and chance to see, or even better, to buy great works is exciting. Miami is getting it right with art world. Boston needs this. So could many other cities for art exposure and for the artists. Granted it helps to have eighty degree evenings. I’m sure we could work something out (I’m looking at you many convention centers of Boston…).
Needless to say, I’m looking for a cheap flight down to Miami this weekend. You should too.
Oh, and I also took in the Peréz Art Museum Miami. I need a whole other blog about that gorgeous palace of awesome.