Sandra Beasly wasLegalArt’s first writer-in-residence. She writes of the experience and discovering the “Other Miami” in the Washington Post Magzine this month.

“Miami became a glittering symbol of the exotic, the Other Florida,” writes Beasly. “Every March, crowds gather in Little Havana for Carnaval and the Calle Ocho Festival. Every December, collectors and gallery owners sweep through for Art Basel. That’s the energy I had pictured. Instead, I wake to overcast midwinter mornings in a largely deserted downtown building with no view of the water. If I wanted to get lost in the dance clubs, they’d be just steps away. But as a poet, I’m not looking for Miami’s signature fashion or glitz. I want to understand this city’s outsiders, its artists, its cultural anchors.After several restless days, I go in search. Instead of fixating on Miami as the Other Florida, I will discover the Other Miami…”

Click here to read the complete article and comment below on your “Other Miami.”