Everything you never knew about Wynwood, Miami’s coolest neighborhood
Welcome to Miami! This is Wynwood, the creative soul of the Magic City.
Do you remember when you were a kid and got in trouble for writing on the walls? Well, here all that is allowed and celebrated with giant street murals filled with vibrant colors. Not even COVID can prevent you from taking a walk or you can just look around from your car window. This is art… as real as it gets.
Wynwood is a historic neighborhood north of downtown Miami, in Dade County. It’s divided by North 20th street to the south, I-195 to the north, I-95 to the west and the Florida East Coast Railway to the east.
And to think that this neighborhood, which was once a gloomy warehouse spot, today has more than 70 art galleries, trendy restaurants, the hippest bars in the city and most importantly, ever-changing art painted on those raggedy warehouse walls.
History of Wynwood
In 1917, Wynwood was purchased as farmland from the city of Miami by Josiah Chaille and Hugh Anderson. It quickly became a working-class neighborhood luring commercial residents as well. The Miami real estate boom of the 1920’s brought huge companies like Coca-Cola, who built a bottling plant in the area. National bakeries began their factories and the textile industry also jumped on the bandwagon.
In the 1950s, Wynwood grew into one of the country’s largest garment districts but as the area became more industrialized and other parts of Miami became more suburban, most of its residents migrated to other neighborhoods. According to Miami History, this gave way to a Puerto Rican community that made Wynwood their home.
Little San Juan
So much so that they called it “Little San Juan” or “El Barrio” long before the famous “Little Havana”. The community center named after Puerto Rican educator and novelist Eugenio María de Hostos still exists. In 1974, Wynwood Park was also renamed Roberto Clemente Park after the tragic death of the Puerto Rican baseball player in 1972. Clemente died in a plane crash while trying to bring aid to Nicaraguans after the devastating 1972 earthquake in Managua.
During the 70s, the Wynwood garment district prospered, attracting thousands of shoppers, many from South America. In a 1976 Miami Herald article, the headline reads “Wynwood: Latin Melting Pot” and discusses the Cubans, Colombians, Haitians, Guatemalans and Dominicans who were the majority at the time. Puerto Ricans, once a majority, by 1976 were a third of the population.
Nick Álvarez, a resident at the time, told the Miami Herald that he sent his children to Puerto Rico to be raised in a non-violent environment. He remembered a quiet Wynwood years ago, but with industrial growth, Interstate 95 and train lines, Little San Juan became the local thieves haven.
By the late 1970s, Wynwood had become dangerous, streets were filled with homeless people, gang conflicts broke out, and there was plenty of drug trafficking. The park that was once the pride of Puerto Ricans was now a hang out for crack dealers.
Problems with the Latino economies, the increase in crime and the riots of the 1980s affected small businesses.
The 90s: ‘Violence, displacement and opportunity’
In a 1991 Miami Herald article, the riots and looting in Wynwood are on the front page. On December 1990 the streets were packed with supporters of Leonardo Mercado, a crack dealer from “El Barrio”, who came out to protest when 6 police officers involved in his death were acquitted.
In the late ‘90s, as the Design District neighborhood to the north became more expensive and Wynwood rents remained low, local artists and developers became interested. They saw the opportunity offered by the low costs of the warehouses and began to establish their galleries and art spaces in this neighborhood.
Iconic artists like the late African American painter Purvis Young from the neighboring Overtown; who used what he found on the streets for his murals and the Cuban sculptor Tony López; who designed the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, were already working on their craft in Wynwood for years.
It wasn’t long before it became known as an arts district, drawing millions of visitors mesmerized by the eye-catching murals.
The entire neighborhood was a free open-air art museum.
2000’s: Gentrification and Development
According to the Oxford dictionary, gentrification is the process of urban and social rehabilitation of a depressed or deteriorated urban area, which causes a gradual displacement of the impoverished residents of the neighborhood by others of a higher social and economic level.
Wynwood has changed several times since its inception. Now, aside from art galleries, restaurants and clubs there are buildings everywhere that seem to be constructed at a rapid pace, leaving no empty corner untouched. Added to this, is the the unattainable prices for locals, the vast majority of whom have closed their small businesses or have taking advantage of the construction boom in the area and sold their properties at “good” prices.
According to the Next Miami, a website dedicated to local real estate, there are currently more than 20 building construction projects for luxury residences and hotels until 2023.
Wynwood Walls: A color explosion
In 2009, urban visionary and developer Tony Goldman, who revived New York’s Soho and South Beach, saw an opportunity to create a canvas for street art. Along with art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, he created Wynwood Walls by using those beat-up warehouse walls that became home for mural masterpieces.
And so it began... Wynwood Walls opened in December 2009 to coincide with Art Basel, the largest international fair for contemporary art in North America, with more than 250 galleries.
There is always something new to discover in Wynwood, once a month galleries open their doors to show off their best exhibits, the walls are painted with a variety of bright colors and people walk slowly along the Wynwood Art Walk, which takes place every second Saturday of each month. It’s such a fresh vibe. You’ll feel like you are inside a life-size painting! Your inner child will cheesy smile.
Every wall has a story, some are raw, some are emotional, some are happy, some showcase pop culture, but they all have one thing in common. They fill your soul with colors and colors give hope and hope brings smiles... And that’s exactly what you’ll be doing after taking a stroll in Wynwood.
Plus, there are so many ‘insta worthy spots’… You will leave inspired believe me! So, go on now, explore before the whole place becomes condos.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 8:48 AM.
