Author/artist Dave Eggers at Electric Works from San Francisco, Miami Project.

All the hype surrounding Art Basel, all the emphasis on big ticket items and yachts and celebrity sightings (which are annoying, but this is a commercial fair week after all), does obscure what can be a great opportunity about this time in December. Miami has an interesting, burgeoning art scene, but it is not an international art center; and our geographical position is somewhat isolated.

Which is to say, we get a chance to see some of the best, most trendsetting art in the world when it comes to our neck of the swamp for a brief moment – and there is one last weekend to get out and see it.

The main fair in the Convention Center on Miami Beach is the most expensive to enter, but it is the largest museum of contemporary art for four days. There are examples of 20th century masters, from the Warhols to the Twomblys and Calders; fabulous sculptures from the likes of international stars Ernesto Neto and Yinka Shonibare; and eye-popping installations, such as the one from Urs Fischer at the Sadie Coles booth, with giant green raindrops falling from the ceiling and entrapping the strolling visitors.

New World School of the Arts project, “A Piece of Me,” at Art Miami.

The myriad satellite fairs also cost to get in, so you may want to pick one according to taste or location. Midtown is where the most are congregated. New this year to Miami is the Pinta Fair (3401 N.E. 1st Ave.), which is focused on Latin American art. Pinta includes two tents, one with more established artists, and a second one filled with a little more experimental and topical art and a section dedicated to Brazilian galleries. Stop by one of the many Miami booths, such as Alejandra von Hartz and Juan Ruiz.

Across the street is Miami Project (N.E. 34th St. and 1st Ave.), a fun fair. That doesn’t mean lightweight, but the offerings from so many galleries west of us – New Orleans, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and tons from San Francisco – add a refreshing feel, the art looking less restrained than the New York-European style of so much else (the sole Miami outfit represented here is Dina Mitrani’s photography gallery).

Down the street are the duo of Art Miami and CONTEXT (3100 block of N.E. 1st Ave.) fairs. Celebrating its 25th year anniversary, Art Miami has a little bit for everyone, with both Modern and contemporary art on display and special exhibits. This year, in a nicely placed front corner, New World School of the Arts students get to show off their skills in a site-specific installation of works that responds to one of the early and most famous alums, Hernan Bas – this is creative stuff.

Connected to it is CONTEXT, a more tightly organized fair that also offers some different corners and niches, such as the Listening As Context tent, consisting of 12 listening stations where you can hear sound art from acclaimed artists in this new field.

Over on Miami Beach, Untitled and Scope are both literally on the beach (11th-10th Streets and Ocean Dr.), and both are dramatically different. Untitled, in its architecturally designed tent, is neatly tailored, with a clean and even austere aesthetic. Scope has always been known to be wilder, with a lot of performance art and planted with interesting installations throughout.

Farther north, two flagship satellite fairs are also anchored on Miami Beach. Pulse–which just left its Ice Palace home on the mainland for a tent right off the beach (at 4601 Collins Ave.)–is also considered home to some of the more outlandish new works and installations, while NADA (in the Deauville Hotel, 6701 Collins Ave.) has always nurtured a calm feel with its limited number of booths.

One aspect that ties them together this year is that they all are showing more galleries that hail from Asia, from the Middle East, from lands not formerly represented by art galleries until very recently. It truly does broaden the scope and the variety of art visions and art making that we can see here in one bundle, which is why Art Basel still is a once-a-year treat.