These Coral Gables spots could get an Art Basel makeover for Miami Art Week
Some Art Basel flair is coming to the Gables.
The city plans to transform the inside of Coral Gables hotels and other buildings, such as the public library or City Hall, into works of art during Miami Art Week.
The makeovers will be part of a new public art project, “Intervals,” that will roll out in December during the annual weeklong festivities that draw thousands to Miami and Miami Beach for Art Basel, a world-renowned art fair that showcases thousands of galleries and artists.
While Coral Gables has previously commissioned exhibits to align with Miami Art Week, this time around the city is working with Miami galleries that participate in Art Basel to find five professional artists who will incorporate their artistic vision into five public spaces across the city, according to Catherine Cathers, the city’s arts and culture coordinator.
The concept of “Intervals” is similar to the “No Vacancy, Miami Beach” collection that for the past several years has paired local artists with Miami Beach hotels to turn their walls, floors, lobbies and other spaces into temporary art exhibits.
“I think that we’ll really be surprised by what the artists come up with,” Cathers told the Miami Herald in a phone interview this week. “They’re problem solvers, they’re creatives, so they go into a space and they see things that maybe you or I wouldn’t see initially.”
Coral Gables commissioners approved up to $110,000 in funding from the city’s art fund to support the “Intervals” public art series, which will run from December through January. A trolley route is also in the works to make it easier for people to tour all of the city’s “Intervals” sites.
“It’s an opportunity that will bring many people to the community,” and draw more customers to local businesses, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago said during a recent City Commission meeting.
Coral Gables, which is celebrating its centennial this year, has pushed to enhance and promote the city’s arts and culture scene through its Art in Public Places program for more than a decade. Sometimes, its Instagrammable art pieces go viral, such as U.K. artist Luke Jerram’s traveling “Museum of the Moon,” which saw a large detailed moon over Ponce Circle Park in 2023, and the colorful Umbrella Sky that drew crowds in 2018 to Giralda Plaza.
The city often rolls out new art around Miami Art Week. Some are temporary installations, such as artist Kiki Smith’s “Blue Night,” which featured suspended animal constellations made from transparent blue Plexiglas and included an augmented reality experience. That was commissioned by the city specifically for its 2021 “Illuminate Coral Gables” interactive project that transformed downtown Coral Gables into a free outdoor museum.
Other pop-up installations are later purchased by the city to become permanent exhibits and are sometimes officially recognized by Art Basel, such as the speech balloon signs that are spread out across Miracle Mile (when it’s not storm season) as part of artist Hank Willis Thomas’ “The Truth Is I Welcome You” installation.
While details on the city’s new “Intervals” project are still being ironed out, some names and locations are already being floated.
Cathers told commissioners the city could potentially work with Miami galleries David Castillo Gallery, Central Fine, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Fredric Snitzer Gallery and Spinello Projects.
As for locations, the Plaza Coral Gables — home to the Loews Coral Gables Hotel — has expressed interest in hosting a VIP Art Basel event that will give attendees the opportunity to meet and talk with the “Intervals” artists, according to Cathers.
Other locations that could potentially get the Art Basel makeover include the historic Biltmore hotel, City Hall, the Coral Gables Branch Library, Hotel Colonade, Hyatt Regency, Aloft, Courtyard by Marriott and the city’s adult activity center.
“Intervals” will be a way to “highlight Coral Gables as the city of the arts,” said Cathers, and give an opportunity for people “to be exposed to the arts” in a new way.
