Food meets the arts this week as local chef, restaurateur & culinary icon Michael Schwartz is celebrating the Knight Foundation’s Dennis Scholl with a special menu addition. Scholl, the Foundation’s Miami Program Director, was recently awarded the Big Heart Humanitarian Award in the Arts by the American Heart Association at its annual Miami Heart Ball for the "extraordinary impact" he's made on people’s lives. Schwartz offered his congratulations via a post on his blog and a special menu addition: Dennis’ Big Heart (pictured) features pan roasted deep creek ranch beef heart, local beets, herb spatzle and beet puree.
Says Schwartz: “Dennis Scholl is a Renaissance man. Among his hats including lawyer, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and art collector, we like to think that he sports ‘MGFD regular’ best. But of course, as vice president of Knight Foundation overseeing Miami programs and directing all arts initiatives across the country, Dennis’ heart is as big as his passion for good food and wine.”
Art Center/South Florida recently debuted a new exhibit at its Lincoln Road gallery. Until March 28 Ritual and Process, a guide to sanity and survival in the soon-to-be present will explore & deconstruct our age of consumer capitalism. Generation Y Miami artists Orlando Estrada, Rosemarie Romero and Kacey Westall Keogh have combined their work to depict and predict the direction of consumer society; preserve & deconstruct history; comment on the evolving human experience; and explore their personal frustrations.
Orlando Estrada, The Dream Thief
Romero says of the exhibition: “Human memory is as fragile as our computer hard drives, in which data can be wiped out by a malicious virus, and the death of permanence in everyday life is deeply felt by the planned obsolescence of our disposable items. To cope with, understand, and maintain equilibrium in our rapidly changing environment, art-making becomes a form of ritual, where process and repetition are integral to the works’ meaning.”
Rosemarie Romero, Entertainment Industrial Complex
Ritual and Process, a guide to sanity and survival in the soon-to-be present: Feb 26-Mar 28 at Art Center/South Florida, 800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; 305-674-8278; artcentersf.org; Opening is Sat, Feb 27 at 7pm; all activities are free and open to the public
The 2010 Knight Arts Challenge is officially underway, with applications being accepted until March 15. Bas Fisher Invitational, a 2008 KAC winner, wants to help make sure your great idea is one of the winners. Head to the space this Sunday (Mar 7) from 7-10pm for aKnight Arts Challenge brainstorming session. Bounce your idea around, polish your wording and field feedback from fellow entrants. Extra bonus – stick around for a Zoolander screening after the session. 20 guests were confirmed as of Tuesday, get more info & add your name to the list here.
KAC Brainstorming session @ Bas Fisher Invitational: Sunday, Mar 7; 7pm; 180 NE 39 St, suite 210; Miami; basfisherinvitational.com
Think the Knight Arts Challenge is only for established artists and aspiring adults? Think again and think younger - way younger. A first grade class from Seminole Elementary School recently got to spend an afternoon with the Wizard of Oz courtesy of the Challenge. WSVN channel 7 met up with the kids and Dennis Scholl, the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director, to explore the impact of the experience and the Challenge. Click here to get all the print & video details.
The 2010 Challenge is open for you big ideas through March 15 – click here to submit and get more info.
2008 Knight Arts Challenge winnerLeggo my Demo is revamping the electronic music world one demo at a time. Founded by Chris Chrebert after he was flooded with demo tapes at the 2006 Winter Music Conference, Leggo my Demo is an Internet-based community platform that showcases & celebrates new music each month via contests and networking opportunities. Preview the action with Chrebet, Winter Music Conference co-founder Bill Kelly and artists Rodrigo Barreto & Lance Blaise of Teggno Records.
Jessica Delgado of FIU's Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum checks in with an update on the museum, its exhibitions and its evolving understanding of the South Florida community...
The Frost Museum at night
With each exhibition we learn about what our state-of-the-art museum spaces can do. During Because I Say So: Selections of the Scholl Collection, we learned transforming the grand galleries was a challenge, but not an impossibility. We learned that over 7,000 people enjoyed the contemporary art show and that a million pins held together by shear will in the shape of a cube is a tempting sight; people will want to touch. During the exhibition The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, we learned that our museum’s grand galleries could very easily accommodate over 45 large-scale works of art. We learned “if you build it, they will come” and that over 11,000 people came to learn about the art of Buddhism. Hundreds attended the consecrating and de-consecrating ceremonies with The Drepung Loseling monks while they created the Green Tara mandala. We also learned that a 25 foot inflatable Buddha is also tempting to touch.
Continuing our exploration into Asian art with our current exhibition, Taiwan Discovered: In Place and Time, we continue to learn what our spaces can do. The works include traditional calligraphy, landscapes, and the extraordinary craftsmanship of paintings actually made from slices of rock. Heaven by Yao Jui-chung, features a brass helmut with video suspended from cables high above in the grand galleries, with 15 spiraling copper tubes connected to a corresponding painting. The common thread, the gold foil, represents both himself and the “born in Taiwan” element that all the images share.
With each exhibition we learn. We learn what we can do and what the community responds to. So far, we have had an excellent response and hope to continue to be the community’s cultural center.
Sunday concluded the Miami run of Platanos & Collard Greens, a love story between an African-American man and a Latina who are confronted with racial and cultural prejudices from family and friends. The Knight Foundation's Marly Falcon weighs in with her reactions to the show...
Miami Light Project managing producer Rebekah Lengel checks in with an update on the 2010 Here & Now program...
21-year-old nonprofit, Miami Light Project launched the Here & Now commissioning program 11 years ago with the belief that investing in the artistic talents of Mimi-based performance and media artists would have great returns- not just on the individuals directly impacted in the artistic community, but on establishing Miami as a cultural destination of great talent, artistic excellence and diversity.
Wondering what’s new in the Miami music scene? Sweat Records founder Lolo Reskin checks in with an update…
Cuci Amador of Afrobeta in Calle 13's "Electro Movimiento" music video
Things are looking particularly sunny for Florida bands these days. A few years ago Jacksonville's Black Kids made it big with their upbeat indie pop sound that recalled The Cure at their most playful. Just before their atmospheric rise we had them play at our old "Circa Saturdays" party in November '07 for a price that is now all but a memory as they've gone on to tour the world and play all the biggest festivals.
Recently, West Palm Beach's Surfer Blood have started climbing the ranks. A string of CMJ (College Music Journal) shows brought them a lot of new fans and some major press in the New York Times. An 8.2 rating on the stingy-yet-influential Pitchfork website pushed them farther up the ladder and now they're on their way to tour Europe and their fantastic debut "Astro Coast" has completely sold out of its first run of CDs and LPs. We recently hosted Surfer Blood's homecoming show at our weekly Fridays at The Vagabond party and a great time was had by all (pics here).
Surfer Blood poster: daylight left, blacklight right
We also collaborated with FTL's IronForge Press and Miami's own aqua artists Morphologic to make a beautiful silk-screened art poster to commemorate the event - and yes you can pick one up at Sweat! So, J-ville...West Palm...it's now only a matter of time before the hype trickles all the way down to the MANY amazing bands here in South Florida. In fact, it's already happening. Here are just a few indications:
ANR have a song featured in the trailer for the new Michael Cera film "Youth In Revolt"
Cuci Amador of Afrobeta collaborated with Calle 13 for their massive hit "Electro Movimiento" - the album went on to win Best Album at the Latin Grammys and the video has been viewed nearly 3 million times on YouTube! Afrobeta will also be playing a headlining slot at March's Ultra Music Festival
Members of ¡MAYDAY! can be seen rocking out as Lil Wayne's band in the video for his hit "On Fire" (video outtake here)
Dancefloor composer extraordinaire Panic Bomber was featured in Trax, France's largest electronic music magazine
Not to mention people like Otto Von Schirach, Blowfly (the naughty alter-ego of Miami soul singer Clarence Reid) and others who, while not overtly famous here, still pack shows in Europe and all over the states. At Sweat we're also FAR outselling local releases over national titles and seeing an overall heightened interest in these bands from our backyard, as it should be.
Last year the NY Times ran the article In South Florida, a Tropical Bohemia in the Makings, which put a spotlight on a few of these artists and some local musical institutions. As Michael-John Hancock of ANR said in the article, "I have faith that eventually the international respect being paid to the art scene will carry over to the music scene.” Couldn't have said it better myself.
Published on February 17, 2010 by Valerie Nahmad. Closed
Founded in 1984 as an artists' colony, Artcenter/South Florida has been a Lincoln Road favorite of tourists and locals for decades. The 2008 Knight Arts Challenge Winner was awarded $150,000 to develop it computer lab and digital programming, bringing classes & facilities to artists. Step inside the project with executive director Jeremy Chestler and resident artists Luisa Mesa.
Artcenter/South Florida is located at 924 Lincoln Road, for ore info visit artcentersf.org or call 305-674-8278.
Says Schwartz: “Dennis Scholl is a Renaissance man. Among his hats including lawyer, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and art collector, we like to think that he sports ‘MGFD regular’ best. But of course, as vice president of Knight Foundation overseeing Miami programs and directing all arts initiatives across the country, Dennis’ heart is as big as his passion for good food and wine.”
