Miami Tastemakers Share Their Resolutions for the Local Arts Scene

Just as we each have a list of resolutions, whether spoken or unspoken, that we aim to tackle to enrich our lives in the coming year, Miami's arts and culture leaders have ambitious plans to reinvigorate the cultural scene for both locals and visitors in 2025.

New Times spoke with a selection of the Magic City's most prominent tastemakers about their visions for the future of our creative community. They shared their hopes and expectations for the city as its art scene continues to gain greater attention from global audiences.

Caroline Cabrera and Melody Santiago Cummings, Co-directors at O, Miami

O, Miami is a month-long festival and year-round initiative that aims to build community interest around poetry through innovative collaborations and platforms. For more information, visit omiami.org.

"If this year's [Miami Art] Basel programming is any indication, Miami's art scene is only becoming more Miami. We saw so many local artists deservingly featured for recognition from this global audience, among them our Miami-Dade Poet Laureate, Caridad Moro-Gronlier.

"O, Miami is re-doubling our commitment to featuring hyper-local artists — even our youngest artists. In the spring, we'll unveil a project that features student poems as innovative multimedia pre-show content in partnership with the Philip and Patricia Frost Museum Planetarium.

"We're also looking forward to new work from Arsimmer McCoy, Pioneer Winter, and Malcolm Lauredo."

Dejha Carrington, Commissioner Founder

Commissioner is an innovative platform that supports artists with the tools they need to thrive and showcase their work. The organization commissions pieces from local artists and hosts studio visits and conversations with collectors, among other events. For more information, visit commissioner.us.

"Commissioner's practice has always been to follow the artist's lead. There's something to be said about getting out of the way and providing artists with the creative space and support they need to bring ideas to life unencumbered. So, [in 2025] expect more listening, experimentation, and spaces to build connections. Hopefully, this approach will have an enduring ripple effect.

"Personally, [I would like] to see everything that I didn't get to [see] during Miami Art Week, including Ayiti Toma III: Spiraling, Silence, & Sirènes at Central Fine, Alien at David Castillo [Gallery], and Invisible Luggage at Historic Hampton House. I'm also excited about Najja Moon at Tunnel, the artist-run studios and project space in Little Havana.

"Look out for more bylines and thoughtful arts coverage by Miami-based writers. There's an inspiring group of journalists and experienced writers sharing resources and encouraging art historians, artists who like to write, and curators to pitch bold and global. Carolina Drake, who helps keep our Miami Arts Writers WhatsApp channel active, has likened writing to collecting for me: 'Anyone can do it if you have the access and a good story — we have both because we're part of the communities who live here.' Though increasingly fewer arts publications are open to freelancers, I hope we'll continue to see an uptick in stories by local voices genuinely invested in and rooted in our shared experience.

"With Commissioner, we're going further behind the scenes with artists and organizations, learning more about the inner workings of acquisitions, conservation, and process. Our first event of 2025 is an intimate introduction to the Wolfsonian's Annex, the museum's seldom-seen storage space and a portal through time. We're also looking forward to visiting Fared Manzur at Rice Hotel and our day trip to West Palm Beach for Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing [at the Norton Museum of Art] with curator Arden Sherman."

Bari Newport, Producing Artistic Director at GableStage

GableStage has brought award-winning drama and comedy to South Florida audiences for 45 years. Since 1998, it has produced theater that reflects the interests of its community at the Biltmore Hotel, garnering 64 Carbonell Awards for exceptional Miami theater. For more information, visit gablestage.org.

"GableStage is producing three Miami premieres (Appropriate, Summer 1976, Fat Ham) plus a taste of our long-awaited Miami Vice the Musical production at our annual gala showdown on March 15.

"I'm really looking forward to Sarah Silverman at the Fillmore [on Saturday, January 11]. For 2025, I predict attendance hitting pre-pandemic levels and then... surpassing them!"

Franklin Sirmans, Pérez Art Museum Miami Director

PAMM is a contemporary and modern art museum that provides the community with education, artworks by world-famous and local artists, and ocean views at its gorgeous bayside location. For more information, visit pamm.org.

"Newly created artist-centered and/or artist-run spaces are gaining steam and energy and will be the center of gravity [in Miami]. The new spaces are invigorating and timely and demonstrate the pulse of our artists in ways that are nimble, like Tunnel, located in an underground parking lot in Little Havana, or Queue, which does not have a fixed location, or Commissioner, which creates a bridge between artists and collectors.

"I believe we are in a fortunate position [at PAMM] as we continue to be guided by our mission and vision for presenting art and ideas in an ever-changing world that promises more political, economic, and social change in 2025. I continually feel energized by the ways our staff and board lead the museum as a place of inquiry and experimentation, fueled by a desire to create a space for genuine human interaction. May the uncertainty of 2025 be filled with the promise of dynamic opportunities to reinvigorate the humanist quest to make art more a part of everyday people's lives.

"At PAMM, it will be a year of unprecedented explorations of photography and moving images guided by our curators in conversation with our varied communities.

"Since its invention in 1839, photography has been used as a device of truth-telling, and while that essential trait has diminished ever since that day, we are entering a new phase of AI-driven image treatment that will be unprecedented in its ability to fictionalize and obscure fact from fiction to create 'truth.' Showcasing photography and its use as a medium for documenting performance is the crux of Language and Image, organized by chief curator Gilbert Vicario. [Featuring] over 300 works by more than 50 artists from the collection of Jorge M. Pérez, it will be the biggest photography show we have ever had in the building."