Above: An event at The Light Box. Photos courtesy of Miami Light Project. Beth Boone has been at the helm of Miami Light Project, as both its artistic and executive director, since 1998. I sat down with Boone at Zak the Baker in Wynwood for a one-on-one interview. Over an eggplant skillet, rugala and powdered […]
Article · February 22, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
Above: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Robert Battle’s “Awakening.” Photo by Paul Kolnik. If you haven’t experienced Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, it’s time. The company’s performances and community outreach programs are excellent ways to introduce your children, nieces and nephews, grandkids and the neighbors’ kids, to the splendor of Ailey. It may change […]
Article · February 9, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
Above: A scene from Prizm art fair. Photo by Rod Deal. During last December’s art fairs, I checked out Prizm Art Fair, a 2015 Knight Arts Challenge winner, and had the opportunity to speak with its founder and director, Mikhaile Solomon. Solomon, who established Prizm in 2014, curates cutting-edge multidisciplinary art fairs that promote artists […]
Article · February 8, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
Above: Hattie Mae Williams, Ana Mendez, Jenny Larsson, Stephan Koplowitz, Niurca Márquez, Agustina Woodgate, Marissa Alma Nick, Monica Lopez de Victoria. Lack of diversity in the arts isn’t fiction. It’s real, as most recently evidenced by the 2016 Oscar nominations. The Academy Awards controversy got me thinking: What are we, the Miami arts community, doing […]
Article · February 5, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
Kenny Riches. Photo by Colin Fugit. A couple of years ago, BuzzFeed offered 37 reasons why Miami is the best and weirdest city in America. The list is, of course, that “Miami Vice”-like cliché that we’ll never shake, which is fine, but we’re so much more than chicken gangs, tricked-out cars and old men who […]
Article · January 25, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
In an era of iPads and Kindles, Tom Virgin yearns to return to an analog form of publishing. The founder of Extra Virgin Press, Virgin won a 2015 Knight Arts Challenge grant in support of his plans to help preserve the art of letterpress printing by bringing it to Miami. Invented by Johannes Gutenberg in […]
Article · January 21, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
South Florida-based author Michèle-Jessica (M.J.) Fièvre self-published her first novel in Haiti at 16. Since then, she’s published nine books, including a children’s book “I Am Riding.” Her latest title, “A Sky the Color of Chaos,” marks her first memoir. The book is a coming-of-age story that documents Fièvre’s turbulent relationship with her father and […]
Article · January 11, 2016 by Neil de la Flor
Jai-Alai Magazine. Art Basel and the Miami Book Fair are over. Now, it’s time for Jai-Alai—the Miami-based literary magazine that’s revealing our dynamic culture of local writers and artists. Founded by Scott Cunningham and the University of Wynwood with the help of a Knight Arts grant, Jai-Alai Magazine was conceived as a series of 10 […]
Article · December 15, 2015 by Neil de la Flor
Matthew Taylor. Photo by Neil de la Flor. Composer Matthew Evan Taylor and his collaborator, Svet Stoyanov, create musical experiences with the intention of adding value to the community through the arts–especially music. This year, the duo created “Elemental Culture,” an experimental music piece that opened at the Coral Gables Congregational Church. “Elemental Culture” brought […]
Article · December 7, 2015 by Neil de la Flor
Photo: “Newt Miami,” a public art installation on the InterContinental Miami. Photo by Sarah Moody, courtesy of “Newt Miami.” Every night through Nov. 15, a series of “experiments in light, color and sound” will dance across the entire 19-story facade of the InterContinental hotel in downtown Miami. Described as performative architecture by the project’s creators, […]
Article · November 11, 2015 by Neil de la Flor
Photo: John Beauregard, Bernadette Salgado, Katrina Weaver, Lize-Lotte Pitlo, Karen Peterson and Shawn Buller. Courtesy of Karen Peterson Dancers. For more than 25 years, Karen Peterson, founder and executive director of Miami-based Karen Peterson Dancers, has spread the word: mixed-ability dancers are dancers. Full stop. Recently, the company performed at “A New Definition of Dance” […]
Article · October 23, 2015 by Neil de la Flor