Art most assuredly isn’t confined to Second Saturdays anymore — take this Saturday for example. There’s the Arteamericas fair. MAM is opening its latest show with a talk and reception. MOCA’s Optic Nerve films are unspooling in Bal Harbour. And some local artists

have organized a silent auction for the hardest hit Prefecture Miyagi in Japan. Hard choices.

Let’s begin at MAM, with the opening of the group show The Wilderness. In examining the boundaries between tamed and untamed nature, real and imagined, associate curator Rene Morales has featured installation, a site-specific work and film, some old, some new. Christy Gast’s work has been prominent lately, in the de la Cruz project space and Gallery Diet among others, and one of her remarkable films is projected here. Batty Cave is a three-channel tale of two men who took to the high desert of Utah to escape from what they thought was the imminent second Biblical flood. Using searing images of rusting cars, abandoned beds, broken glass — the remnants of life, now defunct — Gast unravels their story, and that of our wounded earth as well. A Teresita Dean film is also part of this wildness, a 1999 16mm of the erratic behavior of animals just before an eclipse.

In the site-specific installation, David Brooks juxtaposes real wildlife (in collaboration with the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center) with those other plastic creatures that inhabit our front lawns — think pink flamingos. The talented local painter Aramis Gutierrez is featured as well, with narrative work that depicts dramatic wildfires and burning cities. The evening kicks off with a talk from Brooks, Gast and Allan McCollum at 6:00 p.m.

The biggest Latin art fair in the world continues through the weekend at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the Arteamericas fair. As for a sampling of local representation at the booths: Nina Torres Fine Art will be showing six artists from Mexico and South America, while the Spanish Cultural Center (CCE) will be throwing Spaniards into the mix. Every winter month in Miami now hosts a major international art fair — don’t miss out, as summer is around the corner.

Bal Harbour on the northern beach shores has been trying to get into the art act as well, with art nights at the Shoppes and films in the park behind the the Bal Harbour Resort. On Saturday, MOCA will show its short Optic Nerve video winners, followed by the feature about chanteuse Edith Piaf, La Vie en Rose.

Finally, as the tragedy in Japan continues to unfold, the timely “Japan Now” silent art auction will be held at Wynwood’s ArtSeen, with all proceeds going to the Miyagi Prefecture, where the tsunami took straight aim. As of this writing, 19,000 people are still missing. Christy Gast’s work will appear here too, along with pieces from Bert Rodriguez, Jiae Hwang and Adler Guerrier, among other notable local artists. It is organized by Diego Singh, Tomm El-Saieh and Inga Loyeva. In such troubled times, it really does help ourselves to help others.

“The Wilderness” opens at MAM with a talk at 6:00 p.m., and will run through June 26; 101 W. Flagler St., downtown; www.miamiartmuseum.org. Arteamericas runs through March 28 until 5:00 p.m., Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Ctr. Dr., Hall D. Bal Harbour Resort, 10295 Collins Ave.; www.balharbourflorida.com. “Japan Now” from 6:0 to 10:00 p.m. at ArtSeen, 2210 N.W. 1st Pl., Wynwood; 305-781-2635.