By Laura Bruney, Arts & Business Council of Miami

Alyce Robertson is Executive Director of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority. The Great Recession wreaked havoc on downtown Miami with empty condos and a surplus of office space that even the most bullish economists thought would take a decade to absorb. But the turn-around has been quicker and better than imagined. A 24-7 community has emerged as thousands of new residents and business professionals flood the district seeking a more urban lifestyle. Today, Miami has reversed course and emerged as a true metropolis and international destination for commerce, tourism, and arts & culture. Alyce shares her views with us on the value of the arts to downtown Miami.

ABC: What do you think makes a vibrant community and what role do the arts play? AR:  The arts are an integral part of the community. They are the soul of the community and part of the fabric of who we are. As a long time Miamian I have watched the arts evolve over the decades from small and insignificant to what we have today, a cultural community that is the envy of the world.

ABC: What role did the arts play in downtown Miami’s spectacular turn around? AR: Research has proved that arts and economic development are tied together. The arts touch all aspects of the urban lifestyle we have created – residents, business professionals, business owners and tourists are all impacted in a positive way. Around the country boomers and millennials are abandoning the suburbs for the downtown lifestyle. Downtown Miami has truly become an international center for arts and culture.  Nowhere else in the region will you find such a diversity of major cultural institutions. Downtown is home to the Adrienne Arsht Center, the new art and science museums at Museum Park, the Perez Art Museum Miami, and the Olympia Theatre. The opening of the Miami Center for Architecture and Design has created a hub for creatives in the core of the city. We partner with them to host a downtown visitor center to serve the cultural tourists that fill our hotels our downtown hotels. Cultural tourists spend more time and money and want to visit cities with a cultural identity. Art Basel and its satellite fairs bring visitors and arts lovers to our community. Downtown festivals, events and programs fill our streets. We have experienced an influx of artists moving their workspaces to the area-with more than 50 artist studios opening in the area, in addition to several artist run spaces such as Primary Projects, Dimensions Variable, Bas Fisher Invitational and Turn-Based Press. The arts are one of the components that makes downtown Miami the epicenter of our community.

ABC: How has the DDA supported the downtown arts community? AR: We wanted to bring together the downtown arts executives and creatives to get their feedback. In 2010 we hosted an exploratory meeting with 16 participants and from that developed a cultural advisory group. Everyone thought it was a great idea to get together and talk and think about collaborative opportunities. From that group DWNTWN Art Days was born. A signature glossy magazine piece was designed featuring all the downtown arts groups in one publication that is featured in all downtown hotel rooms and distributed at condos and in local companies. We also commissioned the Arts & Business Council and Miami Center for Architecture and Design to create a video highlighting the downtown arts community. “The Arts Are Moving Downtown” was launched during Art Days this year to glowing reviews. It is now on our website, featured at the visitor center and will soon be featured in downtown hotels. Sonja Bogensperger, team leader of business development, real estate, and marketing for Miami Downtown Development Authority has played a leading role in our outreach and arts activations.

ABC: Tell us more about DWNTWN Art Days. AR: Art Days was our first major collaboration with the arts. It was developed from a desire to showcase the area’s growing art community. Claire Breukel is the creative director of DWNTWN Art Days. Three years ago art days featured 50 activations. In 2012 it grew to 120 and this year to over 200. It’s a true expression of community spirit. The arts groups, institutions and artists develop their own programming for the three day event. This means we have three days of gallery openings, artsy happy hours, exhibitions, walking tours, bike tours, and panel discussions involving independent galleries and artists, as well as major institutions like the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. From dance to music, film to lectures, family events to contemporary public art displays for a weekend in September cultural experiences and arts aficionados fill the streets The DDA does not curate but instead is the convener. We help bring Arts Days together and provide the framework, the structure and promotion. A lot of people that would not have thought about coming downtown on a weekend were here. And they were lured downtown by the arts. New in 2014 was a partnership with public radio station WLRN that helped us get the word out. We also partnered with Deco Bikes for hosted art bike tours and a rolling theatre performance by Front Yard Theater that was unique and fun with participants riding from one set to the next.

Fringe Projects was also launched this year. A partnership with Miami-Dade Art in Public Places and the DDA the exhibit used public spaces as a canvas for temporary site-specific art instillations. Curated by Amanda Sanfillipo, Fringe Projects brought contemporary art out of the museums and into the streets. It was all about integrating art in the public space. Six artists were featured. This unique public art display exemplifies Miami’s prominence as a national and international art destination.

ABC: Why do you think it’s important for corporations to support the arts? AR: The arts provide a sense of place. Some of our corporations need to be educated about the economic value of the arts in our community. From tourism, to residential developments, from restaurants to retail the arts bring people downtown that have a positive impact on business. Businesses need to explore mutually beneficial sponsorships, buy tickets for arts performances and events for their employees and clients and encourage their employees to share their time and skills as volunteers and on boards. I was involved with the arts 25 years ago when I worked for the Miami-Dade County Manager. We had less than 50 groups then and were often described as a cultural wasteland. Visionary corporate leaders like Parker Thompson, Adrienne Arsht, Jorge Perez, Phillip Frost and others provided their leadership and business networks to help us build and support the cultural institutions which put downtown on the map. How much we have grown is astonishing. We need more businesses to invest in the arts.

ABC: From your perspective how can we leverage the arts to build a more connected community? AR: Miami was born in what is now downtown. As we become a global city we forget that Miami is so young. We are only 115 years old. We are still in our infancy compared to other cities and don’t have the institutional foundations they have in older cities. We make up for it with enthusiasm and opportunities for everyone to get involved. The arts bring people from all ethnic, geographic and economic groups together for powerful and positive experiences. The arts celebrate diversity and create memorable experiences. Museum Park, for example is becoming a new public gathering space. You can sit outside on the decks of the PAMM and see the sunset, watch the boats on the bay and interact with other Miamians and visitors. The cultural community is an essential part of our growth in how people experience their downtown.

ABC: How has creativity impacted who you are today? AR: I have artists in my family both musicians and visual artists. My brother is a professional artist and my mother creates a Polish art form of intricate paper cutting. I missed the arts gene in my family. In school I was involved with music which gave me a good background to appreciate the arts. I went to school for a degree in public administration and express my creativity by finding creative solutions and out of the box thinking that leads to innovation.

ABC: Have you had a great arts experience you can tell us about? AR: Lots of them. One of my favorite experiences was during the US Conference of Mayors hosted in Miami in 2008. The opening reception was held at the Arsht Center. As participants entered musicians from the Spirit of Goodwill band was on the stage playing. Despite obstacles and challenges this collection of amateur musicians are all about the music and the lives they touch. They were in front of the curtain. When they finished to rousing applause the curtain opened and the stage and backstage area were transformed into a unique dining experience. During dinner celebrated Miami artists like Arturo Sandoval showcased our tropical style. The whole evening was a moving and memorable experience because of the arts. Mayors that were there still talk about that evening today. I also remember smaller personal arts moments. Sitting in a park in Warsaw listening to a Chopin concert. Opening night of the Miami Design Center at the Freedom Tower with an exhibit about the Cuban experience in that building. Watching the sunset in Bayfront Park while a jazz ensemble played. The arts provide important moments in our lives.

About the Arts Biz Dialogue The Arts & Business Council of Miami has developed a new blog to focus on corporate leaders that support the arts. The interactive exchange of ideas will provide us with insight on successful corporate partnerships. Each conversation will be featured on our ArtsBizBlog. Stay tuned for more interesting interviews and get the inside scoop on why some of South Florida’s top corporate leaders collaborate with the arts.  For information on the Arts & Business Council and to see past blog entries visit www.ArtsBizMiami.org.