Gallery owner Karla Ferguson views a work by artist Tim Okamura, titled “Represent,” at the Yeelen Gallery. Al Diaz MIAMI HERALD STAFF
For art aficionados, a new Wynwood emerges to the north
By Anne Tschida and Jane Wooldridge
jwooldridge@MiamiHerald.com
For art aficionados bound for Art Basel Miami Beach and this week’s other fairs, the private museums and galleries of the Wynwood Art District will be high on the must-see list. By midweek, the juice bars, coffee shops and craft breweries surrounding the Wynwood Walls street-art enclave will be as busy as Lincoln Road.
What Wynwood visitors may not find are the artists who helped shape the neighborhood into a global hotspot. Many of them — and a handful of gallerists — have headed north, renting studios amid the botanicas, sugarcane vendors and discount clothiers of Little Haiti and the track-side stretch of warehouses known as the Little River Business District.
Artists including Edouard Duval-Carrie, Emmett Moore, Agustina Woodgate, Carlos Betancourt and Bhakti Baxter find the vibe there — and the prices – just right for studios and, in some cases, even living space.
When Moore returned to Miami from college a few years ago, he immediately gravitated to Little River, where he worked a decade ago as a high school artist. “It’s kind of quiet and off the grid. You could get a big space for cheap,” he said — size being critical for his large furniture pieces. Rents range around $8 to $12 per square foot.
For Moore, Wynwood was never an option. Finding any commercial space for less than $40 per square foot is now nearly impossible, said Realtor Tony Cho of Metro 1 Properties. And with many artists moving elsewhere, the energy wasn’t right for Moore.
As for Little River, “Right now, it’s a really good community, where you can collaborate with other artists and feed off each other.”
Betancourt agrees. After working in Wynwood, Opa-locka and El Portal, Betancourt last week purchased land for a home/studio in Little River, where he will be able to create both two-dimensional artworks and sculptures.
“There’s an organic feeling of the way it is progressing ... there’s a very careful planning behind it, with special consideration to the artists,” Betancourt said. “This is always very fragile. The bigger developers with big ideas can come in too soon, and that can jeopardize the organic feeling. They are extremely aware of that."
Find the whole Miami Herald article here
Whether you call it Little Haiti, Little River, Lemon City, MiMo or the Historic Upper East Side this part of Miami is attracting lots of attention. With rents lows and large spaces available this could be the perfect next hot area. I know of two artists that have recently moved into new space and love the area. I'll have to make a side trip during Art Basel week to see what all the fuss is about. GL
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