Visual Arts
Free Art
“Put that in your story, bro. Put that in your friggin’ story. I do this for free, you get me? Free.” I had just fallen off the top of a 9-foot ladder while helping Hec One Love, a local Miami artist, paint one of the walls in the Wynwood Art District — an expansive wall with an abstract background and lettering that read, “Love Harder.” We had been working since 9:00 am, putting up chalk lines and painter’s tape to create straight, crisp, and clean white lettering on an abstract spray-painted background. ...
read moreEllen Salpeter Directs the New ICA Miami
Introduction to Ellen Salpeter: 1:01 min. Photo: Elman + Zummar. Music: Carmen Cicero. Ellen Salpeter assumed the role of Director at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (“ICA Miami”) in December 2015. She brings over 20 years of leadership experience advancing the missions of a wide range of nonprofit arts organizations, working to strengthen community outreach and engagement, increase cultural partnerships, and build diverse audiences and financial bases of support. At ICA Miami, Salpeter oversees the museum’s...
read moreUnderstanding the Value of Art Education: A Video Discussion with Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Introduction to Alberto M. Carvalho. 1:27 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Music: Julie Maxwell, Map of Schiaparelli. Alberto M. Carvalho (b.1965) was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. “From the time I was a little boy, I remember being poor, but feeling absolutely rich. I felt rich because every time I left my little apartment, I was greeted by absolute beauty. The architecture, the paintings in museums that I could access for free, the fountains, the poetry, the music that rang throughout the old quarters...
read moreArquitectonica Now (2016): A Video Conversation with Bernardo Fort-Brescia
INTRODUCTION: 1:11 min. Introduction to Bernardo Fort-Brescia. Bernardo Fort-Brescia is a founding principal of Arquitectonica. A native of Lima, he did his early studies in Peru and Europe where he learned multiple languages which would later prove useful for his international career. He studied architecture and urban planning at Princeton University and received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University, where he later taught. He moved to Florida in 1975 to teach at the University of Miami. In 1977, he co-founded...
read moreA Video Chat with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Political Cartoonist Jim Morin
INTRODUCTION: 2:22 min. Introduction to Jim Morin. Music: Tri Tachyon, Little Lily Swing. Jim Morin, whose work is distributed by Morintoons Syndicate, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1996 and shared the Pulitzer with other members of the Miami Herald editorial board in 1983. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 1977 and 1990. He has also won the 2007 Herblock Prize, the 2000 John Fischetti Award, the 1999 Thomas Nast (international) Prize, the 1996 National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award, the 1992 National...
read moreThe Insightful & Inspiring David New
INTRODUCTION: 1:07 min. Introduction to David New. Music: Carmen Cicero. Sixteen years ago, a rare disease rendered David New deaf, blind and paralyzed from the waist down. Rejecting his doctors’ terminal diagnosis, defying all odds, David learned to walk again and gradually regained his hearing, though he did not regain his sight. He has since become a steadfast advocate for people with disabilities, creates works of art in glass, founded several companies and non-profits, and has recently embarked on a new venture, the South...
read moreLeonard Cohen (1934-2016)
The week of November 7th, 2016, was a startling week in America. An unlikely candidate ascended to the presidency of the United States, and an unlikely Canadian troubadour ascended to heaven. As a teenager in the early 1960s, I was a fan of Peter, Paul & Mary. I actually saw them perform in a tiny bowling alley bar in Cincinnati, Ohio. When I arrived for my freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania, I was greeted on my first day of dorm life by the jarring sounds of Bob Dylan, who changed my notion of what...
read moreThe Paintings of Rodolfo Arellano
The paintings of Rodolfo Arellano are like him – joyful and roaring, but without sacrificing their serenity. The lines are sensual and gentle, never sharp. Each work denotes a long and happy effort with no other aspiration than to participate in the enjoyment of beauty. “I paint things as I wish them to be,” he says, sitting in his wheelchair directly across from me. We are in his studio, a modest wooden rancho on the island of La Venada, part of the archipelago of Solentiname in Nicaragua’s great Lake...
read moreRemembering Zaha Hadid
Reflections by Alastair Gordon Architect Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), who died in Miami in March, was a complex woman who made complex designs and introduced a sometimes baffling disregard for gravity and everyday conventions of Euclidean space. In many ways, she was just starting to find her rhythm as a designer while simultaneously balancing her role as global design diva. I remember the 2014 groundbreaking for 1000 Museum Tower in downtown Miami. She entered the throng like a rock star and was quickly swarmed by fans who...
read moreArquitectonica Then (1981)
Editor’s Note: The Miami News was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida, for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called The Miami Metropolis. In 1925, the newspaper moved into a new building called the Miami News Tower. This building later became famous as the Freedom Tower. The Miami News ceased publication on December 31, 1988. On Monday, October 12, 1981, the Miami News began publishing a five-day series of stories about Miami architecture, with the following introduction: “Beginning...
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