Dennis Leyva: Curating Public Art for Miami Beach
DENNIS LEYVA worked at the City of Miami Beach for 22 years. As the Public Art Administrator for 15 years before retiring in 2019, he worked as the City’s liaison to the Art in Public Places program. His primary focus was curating and commissioning site-specific projects for public spaces throughout Miami Beach. During his tenure a total of twelve projects were commissioned with budgets ranging from $5,000 to $2.2 million for individual examples of public art. The works commissioned variously reflect the geography, architecture, and history of Miami Beach.
At the end of his career with the City he oversaw the implementation of $7 million in six public art commissions for the newly renovated and expanded Miami Beach Convention Center. This extensive 2019 project is to date the largest single public art commissioned project by a municipal percent-for-art program in the U.S. The six artists are Franz Ackermann (Berlin), Elmgreen & Dragset (Berlin), Ellen Harvey (Brooklyn), Joseph Kosuth (New York), Joep van Lieshout (Rotterdam), and Sarah Morris (New York).
Leyva moved to Miami from Cuba in 1958.
In college at University of Miami, Leyva studied history and literature, which gave him the foundation for his worldview of art, as well as a greater understanding of artists and their artistic vision.
Leyva was also one of the key individuals, among major collectors and prominent city officials, who played an instrumental role in bringing Art Basel, the largest art fair in the Western Hemisphere, to Miami Beach. He also served as the City’s liaison to Art Basel Miami Beach and its representative to Art Basel in Switzerland.
The videos below are organized by topic and run between 30 seconds and 11 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.
EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 0:39 sec.
INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION: 1:42 min.
INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION: 2:21 min.
EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 1:22 min.
EMPATHY: 4:25 min.
INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION: 0:56 sec.
INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION: 0:27 sec.
EMPATHY: 0:59 min.
SELF-CONFIDENCE: 0:43 sec.
SERENDIPITY: 1:20 min.
SELF-CONFIDENCE: 0:46 sec.
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 11:00 min.
COMMUNITY VALUES: 4:20 min.
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 2:43 min.
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 2:19 min.
UNDERSTANDS ARTISTS’ NEEDS: 3:49 min.
OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 5:19 min.
STRONG DRIVE FOR ACHIEVEMENT: 1:51 sec.
RESPECTS OTHERS POINT OF VIEW: 1:55 sec.