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When art calls Miami Niche responds: Fountainhead presented, for the first time in the lively artistic landscape of Miami, the great Artists Open event, which simultaneously involved the largest art complexes and districts of the Magic City in Miami-Dade County and surroundings. A privileged, welcoming and socially creative experience in the contemporary artistic geography of Miami: studies in collectives and private studios (some of which are usually not open to the public) that have opened their doors for a face to face with the artist. A junction between artists-disciplines-visitors, which reflects and elaborates proposals centered on relevant problems of the contemporary panorama in relation to knowledge, narration and exploration of art. The idea came from Kathryn Mikesell, with the support of the Knight-Foundation, always at the forefront of support for the Miami artistic community. Kathryn Mikesell, besides being the co-founder of the Fountainhead Residency, is also executive director and philanthropist, and with regard to the Artists Open initiative, she states: “Intimate access to artists and art opens people’s minds to the value of diversity and fosters dialogue, creating a more tolerant, engaged and inspired world. To have a voice, artists need a sustainable career. To be heard and to affect change, artists need a broad audience “. Nothing better than to bring artists living in and around Miami into the initiative starting at 11 am until 6 pm, with the participation of over 300 artists. An intense, constructive and inspiring day during which the artists opened their doors welcoming other artists, enthusiasts, or simple visitors eager to understand the artistic dynamics of the Magic City.
The initiative, totally free and recognizable by the display of the characteristic pink banners on the walls or on the fixtures of the interested studios, has been spread throughout the city: from Little River to Miami Beach, from Downtown Miami to Hialeah, Pinecrest and Doral.
Artists Open was (hopefully) the first major collective event, which, beyond the important confluence of people, has focused its spotlight on the key role played by the artist of the 21st century in a city that has become increasingly prolific from the artistic point of view, with its plurality of voices, the expressive tendencies and the wide range of cultural affiliations that characterize it. The passive artist, who represents society, becomes a pro-active subject capable of shaping and transforming the world by encouraging relational and emotional empathy, with the transformation of the means of production, presentation and use of contemporary art.
Artists Open was, for a day, a great exchange platform, from which to start, and with which to take stock of the current artistic situation, thematized in a more persuasive and original way and no longer linked exclusively to sectoral art disciplines.
The initiative was joined by the Fountainhead Studios in Little River with its artists and guests of the Fountainhead Residency (Elechi Todd, Narciso Martinez and Terrence Musekiwa); the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood, Oolite Arts in Miami Beach, Mana Contemporary Miami 777 in Downtown Miami, Laundromat Art Space in Little Haiti, The 4700 at Bird Road Arts, the Red Art Bridge Complex, the collective 27/20 Studios, some artists and gallery owners of the Milk District, Void Projects, the VAG-Visual Art Group, the Collective 62, the ArtHood 56, the Laundromat Art Space, the 8365 Studios and Dimensions Variable (open exclusively from 8 to 10 pm), Doral Art Studios, the Hialeah Art District and the Deering Estate in Pinecrest.
