Free Miami Art Week events do exist. Here’s where to find them.
Relax. Take a deep breath. We know Art Basel and Miami Art Week are a tad overwhelming (and that’s understatement of the year). But free Art Basel and Miami Art Week events are out there.
This list will help you skip the expensive art fairs , parties and main event. It will help you get into one big event for free. And that’s good, because you need to save your money for all those holiday gifts, after all.
Instead, spend Miami Art Week at these free events.
BROWSE: Miami Guide – Art Basel
ArtFashion by Patricia Field
The New York fashion designer presents a pop-up shop for Art Basel with limited edition clothes, accessories and art. Showcased are sculptures by Suzan Pitt, Steven Wine and others.
What: ArtFashion Pop-up by Patricia Field
When: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 7-10
Where: White Dot Gallery, 174 NW 23rd St.
Cost: Free
https://www.facebook.com/Whitedotgallery/
Bakers' Brunch at Bakehouse Art Complex
Spend the morning at Wynwood’s most established arts complex visiting the studios of the 60 Miami-based artists that work at the Bakehouse.
What: Baker’s Brunch & Art Basel Artist Studio Visits
When: 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 7
Where: Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32nd St.
Cost: Free
https://www.facebook.com/events/1264577077020316/?active_tab=discussion
Basel at the Yard
One of Miami’s most popular venues for live local music, Wynwood Yard welcomes New Orleans-based Nth Power, electronic acts Millionyoung and EONS, DJ Lolo and local darlings Locos Por Juana and Magic City Hippies.
What: Basel at the Yard
When: Nth Power, 8 p.m. to midnight Dec. 7
Electric Avenue: 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Dec. 8
Locos Por Hippies, 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Dec. 9
Where: The Wynwood Yard, 56 NW 29th St.
Cost: Free
http://www.thewynwoodyard.com/events/
Basel House Mural Festival
In its fifth year, Basel House is fusing electric music and street art with a Mural Festival featuring more than 40 large-scale mural projects by top street artists from around the globe. They’ll paint live across six city blocks in Miami’s Wynwood Art District based at the iconic RC Cola Plant.
The festival includes interactive digital projection and a virtual reality playground live painting, art installations, live music, late night DJs, mural tours and food trucks.
What: Basel House Mural Festival
When: noon to 3 a.m. Dec. 8 and 9 ; noon to 9 p.m. Dec. 10
Where: Across six city blocks Northwest 23rd through 26th streets and Northwest Fifth and Sixth avenues.
Cost: Free
"Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat"
This film, curated by New York-based film curator Marian Masone, focuses on iconic New York street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
What: Film screening
When: 8:30 p.m. Dec. 8
Where: Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach/the-show#11581
Breakfast in the Park
Los Angeles-based artist Daniel Joseph Martinez is the guest speaker at this annual event. For more than two decades, Martinez has tackled questions of race, identity and the body in his multidisciplinary work. His sculpture “A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love; or, Where You Goin’ with That Gun in Your Hand: Bobby Seale and Huey Newton Discuss the Relationships between Expressionism and Social Reality Present in Hitler’s Paintings,” from 2005, is featured at the museum’s entrance.
What: Breakfast in the Park at FIU
When: 9:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 10
Where: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU, 10975 SW 17th St.
Cost: Free
https://thefrost.fiu.edu/calendar/2017/bitp.html
Design ME with Amanda Perna
What: Artist and designer Amanda Perna
When: 7-10 p.m. Dec. 6
Where: ME Miami Hotel, 1100 Biscayne Blvd.
Cost: Free with RSVP
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/me-miami-presents-design-me-tickets-40162869223
Hive Pop Up Village & Lounge
HIVE is a complementary four-day pop-up lounge on the main artery of Wynwood. Mixologists pair craft cocktails with food in the Behind the Bar Series. DJs spin into the wee hours.
What: HIVE Pop Up Village & Lounge
When: 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Dec. 7; 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Dec. 8; noon to 3 a.m. Dec. 9; noon to 9 p.m. Dec. 10
Where: MANA Wynwood, 2250 NW Second Ave.
Cost: Free
INK Miami Art Fair
Here’s one of those free art fairs we were talking about. This one’s not under a huge tent like the other ones. Instead, it’s in a small hotel on South Beach. You go room by room checking out different art.
What: INK Miami Art Fair
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 6; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 7-9, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 10
Where: Suites of Dorchester, 1850 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
Miami River Art Fair
A waterfront contemporary art fair that features works on display by various galleries, individual artists as well as of cutting edge projects.
What: Miami River Art Fair
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.Dec. 5-6
Where: James L. Knight International Center, 400 SE Second Ave.
Cost: Free
Miami Street Photography Festival
The Miami Street Photography Festival features the work of up and coming photographers from more than 50 countries.
What: Miami Street Photography Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 7-10
Where: HistoryMiami Museum, 101 W. Flagler St.
Cost: Free
https://www.miamistreetphotographyfestival.org/
PULSE Miami Beach
Attending PULSE, one of the major and pricy art fairs, for free is a major bonus. You have to get up pretty early, but at Miami Mornings, this contemporary art fair shows off the most cutting edge art during Miami Art Week. Must show proof of residency for free entry and arrive between the allotted hours.
What: Miami Mornings at PULSE Miami Beach Contemporary Art Fair
When: 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 9 and 10
Where: Indian Beach Park, 4601 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
The Rinse Cycle & Film Series
The book “Jim Shaw: The Rinse Cycle” by Anne Carson and Robert Currie, about the life of prolific contemporary artist Jim Shaw, is presented as a progressive rock opera for one night only as a Wallcast.
The following three nights, the program features a Sound Work and Short Film Program on the WallCast.
What: The Rinse Cycle & Film Programs
When: “The Rinse Cycle,” 8-9 p.m. Dec. 6, ; Sound Work, 7 p.m. Dec. 7-9, ; Film Program, 8 p.m. Dec. 7-9
Where: SoundScape Park at New World Center, 500 17th St., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
https://www.nws.edu/events-tickets/art-basel-at-soundscape-park/
Sex & Takeout
Sarah Bahbah’s first solo exhibition features her entire collection of work, which explicitly examines female voices.
What: Sarah Babah Solo Exhibition
When: 7-11 p.m. Dec. 7
Where: W Miami Hotel, 495 Brickell Ave., 50th Floor
Cost: Free
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sarah-bahbahs-solo-exhibition-party-tickets-40925517324
Territorial at Collins Park
Independent curator and critic Philip Kaiser presents the Public Art installation “Territorial” at Collins Park. It features outdoor sculptures, interventions and performances.
What: Territorial, Public Art at Art Basel
When: 4-11 p.m. Dec. 5-10
Where: Collins Park, 2100 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
https://www.artbasel.com/events/detail/5464/Art-Basel-Public
Urban Legends
An exhibit paying homage to the history of urban street art and featuring the works of Bansky, Bambi, ABSTRK, Keith Haring, Obey, Inkie and L’Atlas, among others.
What: Urban Legends Art exhibition
When: Dec. 6-10
Where: Sagamore Hotel, 1671 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: Free
http://www.sagamorehotel.com/urban-legends
Wynwood Walls Humankind
Wynwood artists Seth Globepainter, 2Shy, Pro176 and Elseed from France; Americans Risk, Tavar Zawacki, Audrey Kawasaki, Joe Iurato, Tristan Eaton and Lady Pink; Leon Keer from The Netherlands; Bordalo II from Portugal and Findac from England are part of this Goldman Global Arts Exhibition entitled “Human Kind,” producing new murals at Wynwood Walls for Art Basel.
What: Goldman Global Arts Exhibition “Human Kind”
When: 10 a.m. to midnight Dec. 7-10
Where: Wynwood Walls, 2520 NW Second Ave.
Cost: Free
http://www.thewynwoodwalls.com/artbasel
This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 10:12 PM.