The art world, then and now.

When I arrived in Miami Beach in1957, the closest thing to cultural arts in the area was the glittering lobby of the Fontainebleau hotel.  Bal Harbour Shops, with its elegant art galleries, hadn't been built yet, nor was I-95  available to speed you southward to the little village of Coconut Grove with its bohemian enclave of young and unknown artists.

I'm remembering the early 60's, when the arrival of the Coconut Grove Art Festival, thought up by my fellow PR practitioner, Charlie Cinnamon, to publicize the local theater, was the really big artistic deal of the entire year.  Absolutely everyone went to those exciting outdoor shows. It was the only game in town for many years.  I have numerous treasured purchases from my own visits on display around my apartment to this very day.

What precipitated my "musing" is that I am planning to visit PAMM (the Perez Art Museum Miami) this afternoon, to view the newest exhibition at this architecturally fabulous new art center, perched on the banks of Biscayne Bay, in Miami's Bayfront Park.  PAMM is just part of the cultural explosion that has been taking place around here the last few years, ever since the arrival of ArtBasel Miami, held on Miami Beach every December, and its sister show, ArtMiami, in the fast growing, newly gentrified Wynwood district of  the City of Miami.

Wynwood, formerly a derelict industrial area just north of downtown Miami, has emerged as the City's new art center, bustling with restaurants, shops and galleries, especially on Saturday Night Art Walks.  Prices of the art, like the rents in the area, have skyrocketed over the years.  In Switzerland, where ArtBasel originates, they actually know all about us these days.  We've become a respected  international art center and a favorite destination for wealthy art lovers.

What a difference a mere 57 years can make!!!
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PAMM (Perez Art Museum Miami)