Inside The Selection Process For The Coconut Grove Arts Festival 2023 Posted on January 31, 2023February 9, 2023 by Sarah Elles Boggs Well, we made it through January in Coconut Grove, so you all know what that means. It’s time to start looking forward to the Coconut Grove Arts Festival! The 59th Annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival is scheduled to take place February 18, 19, and 20th at 2700 South Bayshore Drive. This year, artists were encouraged to highlight “a different type of hue.” But how do they do this? And how is it decided which artists will be showing at this year’s festival? The Coconut Grove Art Festival is led by executive director Camille Marchese, who relies upon the support of the Art Festival president Monty Trainer as well as a board of directors. Together, they have implemented a new strategy for this year’s selection process. “I want the discerning collector to understand this is a highly curated show,” Marchese said in a press release. “While Miami is the greatest place in the world for this show, the reach, talent, and expression of this show goes far beyond our area.” A body of jurists has been built, comprised of renowned artists and industry veterans from all over the United States who all share the same passion for art and strive to expand the prestige of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival further than it currently is. As ambitious as the task sounds, the festival is already ranked in the top 5 outdoor art festivals in the nation, so we have already earned a great deal of respect in creative circles everywhere. The new curation process is completely blind. None of the judges is informed of the name, location, ethnicity or race of any artist who submits their work. This keeps the playing field fair for all, and qualms concerns that the festival is nothing more than a showcase of regional talent (although we are flattered that critics recognize how plentiful our home turf is with amazing artistic talent). Beginning May 2022, each submission from over 1,000 artists was reviewed and scored by the judges. The scores ultimately determined who is invited to show at the festival and there is room for 285 artists. There are more than a dozen categories, which include mixed media in 2D or in 3D, clay, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, sculpture, woodworking, watercolor and print-making. “We wanted to make sure we had the most critical eyes evaluating the submissions,” Marchese continued. “Being selected for a fine art festival is competitive and we’re proud to have the best talents and thinkers in the art world joining us in this process.” The jury is comprised of 5 participants from across the country, each being a professional expert in their field and a true believer in the mission of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. “In the end, our commitment is to produce the No. 1 art festival in the country. Our director is a true believer in the mission of the Coconut Grove Art Festival,” Trainer said. “And being No. 1 means that we have a show based on artistic excellence, a show that is representative of diverse styles and techniques with a broad range of pricing with artists from around the world. There truly will be something for everyone.” The 59th Annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival will run during Presidents’ Day weekend from 10am-6pm. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased on the official Coconut Grove Arts Festival Website.
Step Aside, Art Basel. The Miami Grand Prix Has Arrived Posted on May 4, 2022May 6, 2022 by Sarah Elles Boggs Step aside, Art Basel. Your big brother is coming in fast. Really fast. The first annual Miami Grand Prix is upon us. That’s right. The first annual Miami Grand Prix begins on Friday, May 6, as the culmination of Miami Race Week 2022. The event has already surpassed both the Super Bowl and Art Basel, which was previously heralded as the biggest revenue draw of the year for Miami-Dade County. In previous years, Art Basel has been the crown jewel of the Miami social scene, bringing upwards of 80,000 visitors for the weekend. All of these visitors are very, very VIP (cue the Anna Delvey voice). But on a real note, these visitors do come in with some serious clout as referenced by Miami Today. Hotel rooms average $1,000/night during the weekend and the festival generates $1 million in resort taxes alone over the span of a a few days. The art show brings in more private flights than a Super Bowl and generates around $16 million in revenue for the community. Not a bad haul for the Magic City by any means. Enough of the past. What is happening now? While the numbers for both the Super Bowl hosting gigs and the annual Art Basel Miami Beach festival are impressive, the Miami Grand Prix has already surpassed them in a number of ways. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have descended upon Miami and Miami Beach to celebrate all things fast, and these are not just any visitors. As of the time of publication, the tickets start at $270 per person to watch the qualifying round and warm-ups. The tickets for Sunday’s actual race begin at $600 per person. This does not include VIP, food, drinks or parking. This payment gets you in the gate for one day. The folks who travel to enjoy this show are not rowdy spring breakers or ravers. They are distinguished titans of business from around the globe. The Grand Prix has traditionally been popular with the well-heeled adrenaline junkie crowd (think startup founders, entrepreneurs, other people who make lots of money and love to live on the edge), but the sport has had a recent surge in popularity thanks to the Netflix series that goes behind the scenes of the sport. Before 2012, the number one place to watch the Grand Prix was on Memorial Day Weekend in Monaco. Then the sport expanded to the US in Austin, Texas. This expansion re-invigorated the city and activated an entire section of town that was previously blighted. Over 400,000 people descended upon the Lone Star State to throw money around and watch the race. Year over year, the outcome was similar. As the sport grew in popularity, intentions to expand were made clear. Organizers had looked for a second US location to host the races and options included New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami. Thanks to Stephen Ross, founder and chairman of Related Cos and owner of the Miami Dolphins, Miami was tapped to host a race each year for the next ten years. The race circuit is hosted outside Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens. While it is not the beachfront or downtown location that many had hoped for after NIMBY’s got ahold of the idea, there is plenty of room to host and the outcome could be very similar to that of Austin’s experience. The beach is not so far away and this is yet another avenue to activate a section of Miami-Dade County that has previously been sort of left out. Stay tuned as we cover some of the fun and over-the-top events that are coming with the race weekend. We guarantee it will knock your socks off.