Articles: 2015
Opening Miami to
Chinese Contemporary Art
In a 1988 article in Connoisseur Magazine, I was described as “an occidental orientalist” for being the first to open a New York gallery presenting a totally new phenomenon – Chinese contemporary art. I was perceived as a cultural explorer into the unknown. Chinese and contemporary — to most people the very idea oxymoronic. To them Chinese art was something frozen into strict genres — classical landscapes, folkloric apple-cheeked children, social realism. So the early part of my career I had to work extra hard to open the eyes of Americans to...
read moreThe Chapel of La Merced
In a neighborhood of empty storefronts and barred windows sits a treasure of beautiful architecture that is a gift to the surrounding under-served community. For over a decade at Corpus Christi Church in Miami, Father José Luis Menendez, the parish priest, has been collecting artworks from Latin America’s under-appreciated Colonial period and has constructed a replica of an old Peruvian chapel for their home. La Iglesia Museo Perú de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (the Virgin of Mercy) is the first part of the proposed Colonial Heritage Cultural...
read moreThe Impact of Parker Thomson on the Miami Music Community
If it was not for Parker Thomson, Miami would not have its nationally heralded Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. I first met Parker in the early 1970s when I was Assistant to Richard F. Wolfson, General Counsel for Wometco Enterprises, owner of WTVJ, Florida’s first television station. At the time, Parker represented the Miami Herald. Parker was a brilliant Harvard-trained lawyer. When the Ford Foundation and Miami Herald conducted Florida’s first media law conference, Parker was a prominent participant in the discussions....
read moreDesigning for the Ears as Well as for the Eyes
Morris J. Kaplan is a very hands-on businessman. A successful real estate developer and innovative restaurateur/entrepreneur, his career track is marked by imaginative ventures. Last year, Kaplan and his wife Sandra began laying the groundwork for a new Miami-area restaurant. A longtime fan of master chef Fernando Chang’s culinary talents, Kaplan was confident there would be a strong demand for Chef Chang’s specialty—Kosher sushi and Peruvian dishes. Kaplan invested considerable time collaborating on the bill of fare and the interior design...
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