arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Arts & Business Council of Miami
Miami, Florida

The Changing Face of Arts Facilities: Collaborations, Community Outreach, and Audience Development in Miami-Dade
05/26/2004

Program Summary
More than 100 participants from arts and business gathered for an important discussion about cultural facilities in Miami-Dade on May 26 as part of the MetLife Foundation National Arts Forum Series. The program began with breakfast and networking at 7:00 a.m. in the Jackie Gleason Theatre’s Rehearsal Meeting Hall.

The Forum began promptly at 8:00 with opening comments from program facilitator Anthony Rogers of the LaSalle Financial Group, a MetLife Company. He began with a quote "fear not change, fear only standing still," setting the stage for a discussion about changes in cultural facilities and the outreach opportunities these new and improved venues will present.

Almost a half billion dollars is being invested in new cultural facilities and renovations to existing facilities throughout Miami-Dade over the next three years. From the Miami Performing Arts Center to new museums to neighborhood theaters and new arts districts, exciting arts facilities are being developed and built. The changing face of the arts will impact the entire community, providing opportunities for collaborations, new audience development, and increased outreach to sponsors and partners. Unprecedented visibility can be generated for the arts through these new projects and places. Capital projects will create a network of new and upgraded neighborhood facilities that will thrive and complement each other. New and updated facilities will be home to cultural groups and artists. Artist studios, art galleries, and arts districts will provide artists with the ability to develop and showcase their work. New performing venues will provide audiences with convenient and affordable opportunities to experience the arts in neighborhood settings.

Michael Spring, Executive Director, Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, began the panel discussion with an overview of facilities under construction or being planned. New facilities will change the face of the arts by providing new neighborhood venues throughout the county. Neighborhood facilities will provide the catalyst to build new audiences for the arts by bringing programs to their communities. Arts groups will have opportunities for new outreach and to target their performance to the neighborhood where they are performing, including family programs in the suburbs, youth programs in the urban core, ethnic programs in multicultural neighborhoods, and more. Small business owners will have new, unprecedented opportunities to target their sponsorship of the arts to programs in the neighborhoods where they do business. Mr. Spring discussed the Department of Cultural Affair’s strategic plan for "art in the neighborhoods" and discussed new programs the department will offer to facilitate this vision. He also discussed the support the department has received from elected officials about new facilities and programming in their districts.

Doug Tober, General Manager of SMG, which includes the Jackie Gleason Theatre and the Miami Beach Convention Center, discussed innovative outreach opportunities developed by the Jackie Gleason Theatre with their neighborhood businesses. "Gleason Gourmet" is a partnership between the facility and Miami Beach restaurants. Participating eateries pay a sponsorship fee to the theater to be included in promotional materials and ads and to be featured in the Gleason Concierge desk. Before and after each performance a concierge mans a desk to help patrons make dinner reservations at nearby restaurants. The participating restaurants offer free wine or free desert with dinner for theater patrons who show their ticket stubs after the show. He also discussed the Gleason to Go program with local hotels, which offers weekend packages with theater tickets. The theater is on the forefront in working with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau in developing partnerships between the arts and hospitality industries.

Gail Eaton, Director of Marketing for the Miami Performing Arts Center being built in downtown Miami, discussed the emerging downtown arts district. As this centerpiece scheduled to open in the 2004/2005 season, Greater Miami's Performing Arts Center, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, will be one of four major centers in the United States with three performance facilities created to present the finest performances of ballet, opera, theater, and symphonic music. The Center's two single-purpose halls will provide the first permanent home for its four Resident Companies. As a principal community venue for the performing arts, the Center will also present on a year-round basis a wide variety of high-quality classical and popular entertainment as well as extensive education programs. Strategically located in the Omni-Venetia area on Biscayne Boulevard, the new performing arts complex is ideally situated as a major destination point for residents and visitors, and is easily accessible by public transportation and main highways. The new Center will greatly enhance the community's cultural and educational opportunities. It is also a key element in revitalizing downtown Miami and in the future economic growth and development of the region. The Center will contribute to the financial well-being of the community through its construction; operations; programs and services; ancillary spending; an increased tax base; and the long-term development of commercial, retail, and residential real estate around the Center site. She discussed a major project within the Miami-Dade Empowerment Zone. The Center is the focal point of a growing arts, media, and entertainment district, which will include the new home of Florida Grand Opera, immediately adjacent to the Center, and the International Fine Arts College in the Omni Mall, as well as proposed facilities for the New World School of the Arts. Within walking distance are the American Airlines Arena and the proposed new sites of the Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Science in Bicentennial Park.

Suzanne Delehanty, Executive Director of the Miami Art Museum (MAM), discussed Museum Park, the proposed venture for Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami. The Miami Art Museum is at the very center of one of the world’s most vibrant cities, bringing international art to life through world-class exhibitions, programs, and collecting. MAM is a welcoming place that stimulates the imagination and inspires new ways of seeing and thinking. The City of Miami Commission unanimously passed a resolution on July 25 designating Museum Park Miami as the official vision for Bicentennial Park. This designation will permanently restore this underutilized site to public use with a world-class park, a new Miami Art Museum, and the Science Center of the Americas—the new vision for the Miami Museum of Science. Located close to the Performing Arts Center and a host of other educational, entertainment, and tourist centers in the heart of downtown Miami, Museum Park Miami will complete an outstanding cultural axis for all of Greater Miami to enjoy, helping position our city as a true international metropolis. The new Science Center of the Americas and Miami Art Museum in Bicentennial Park will host world-class exhibits and year-round programs for visiting tourists as well as local adults and children. Together with the new Performing Arts Center, they will ensure Miami’s status as a leading center for cultural arts and sciences.

Bill Baites, Cultural Affairs Program Officer of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Development for the City of Miami Beach, discussed new and renovated cultural facilities throughout Miami Beach. The City of Miami Beach's department of Tourism and Cultural Development's mission is to enrich the economic and cultural fabric of Miami Beach through the support of tourism, production, and entertainment by fostering events and cultural arts programming. Miami Beach has a rich history as a trend-setting arts center, from the world famous nightclubs of the 50s, to the rich cultural life of today's modern South Beach. The City of Miami Beach has an identity that is intrinsically linked to the arts, and today the entertainment, production, and arts communities are stronger than ever. The city is investing more than $58 million in cultural facilities including a complete renovation of the historic Colony Theatre in the heart of South Beach and in the 10th Street Auditorium. In June the opening of the Byron Carlyle Arts Center will highlight the city's investment in the arts in North Beach. Located in an old movie house, the city purchased the building, which is strategically located on the 71 Street corridor reaching from the historic Normandy Fountain to the ocean. The Byron Carlyle Arts Center will include a 350-seat performance theater, office space for arts service groups such as the Arts & Business Council and the Florida Dance Association, and a gallery space. Future plans include developing rehearsal space for the arts and artist studios. Miami Beach has a commitment to providing arts groups with affordable venues to perform on Miami Beach and to this end provide annual subsidies to more than 10 city owned facilities.

Cindy Brown, Managing Director of the Miami Light Project, was the final speaker of the morning. She discussed alternative arts facilities and performance venues. The Light Box Studio provides opportunities for Miami-based artists to develop original work and stage innovative productions in a state of the art performance space in the heart of downtown Miami. Art on the Walls provides the same type of opportunities for innovations for visual artists. In addition to her own company’s facility, Ms. Brown also discussed other alternative spaces in galleries, churches, nightclubs, museums, universities, and high schools. These spaces are usually very affordable. Several burgeoning arts districts throughout Miami-Dade have developed arts colonies, which include performance spaces and visual arts. These spaces are usually in underserved communities and very affordable. Young, hip artists looking for new partnerships often run the galleries and spaces. The audiences that attend performances, art walks, and events in the arts districts are usually young, hip, and contemporary. This provides arts groups with a great opportunity to develop new audiences and to develop programs that appeal to a young demographic.

The program concluded with a short discussion period with participants discussing their needs for facilities. In general arts groups said they need facilities that are affordable, geographically desirable, and available.