Vizcaya Museum & Gardens (a Knight Arts grantee) has seriously stepped up the the quality of the art they have been featuring throughout the past year. It took a leap of faith in exhibiting a very unconventional show from Ernesto Oroza, who literally mapped out the fabulous estate’s history by highlighting various obscure elements, objects and aspects found around the manor. Naomi Fisher created another narrative, incorporating a personal relationship with the iconic Miami destination with her video/installation last fall.

And on a gorgeous winter evening this week, Vizcaya unveiled the latest contemporary art project from Italian-born, New York-based Francesco Simeti. The centerpiece is in the outdoor fountain, which Simeti populated with white, unvarnished sculptures that reference elements that have made the estate what it is. Oh, and it’s quirky and humorous.

Two clouds attached to polls on a track hidden under water pass each other, overlap, then detach, like the real ones do in the sky. There’s a seahorse, a pirate ship, an alligator, a swamp tree, moving about as though the water were a liquid stage. Under a clear, star-studded night sky, the presentation was mesmerizing. In the house, “Simeti searched Vizcaya’s closets and storage spaces for objects left behind from the time when James Deering, Vizcaya’s owner occupied the estate as a winter home [in the early part of the 20th century]. In the exhibition room of the main house, Simeti created what feels like a dusty attic, where these long forgotten objects are dimly illuminated” is how the museum describes the indoor aspect. These objects include European screens from the 18th century, sculptures that once were in the fountains, Baroque chairs and Chinese bowls.

Like the artists who have been asked to interact, and then react, to the estate, the visitor can do so, too, through these exhibits; once again Vizcaya took a chance and came out on top.

And really, even if the art doesn’t float your boat, Vizcaya should be a destination even when friends and relatives aren’t in town — it’s a unique and gorgeous place unlike most any other in the country.

Simeti’s intervention will continue through May 21 at the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, 3251 South Miami Ave., Miami (it’s closed on Tuesdays); www.vizcayamuseum.org.