A New Direction

New Director and Curator Silvia Karman Cubiñá Plans to Breathe New Life into the Bass Museum of Art

By Ben Torter

Although the search for new leadership at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach stretched across the country, in the end, a respected leader in the local arts world was chosen.

Silvia Karman Cubiñá, founding director of the internationally recognized contemporary art exhibition space The Moore Space, was appointed executive director and chief curator of the Bass Museum of Art earlier this month.

“The Bass Museum, the city of Miami Beach and the greater South Florida arts community are so lucky that Silvia has accepted this job,” said George Lindemann, chairman of the board of trustees and president of the Friends of the Bass Museum of Art. “We’re all very excited about seeing the institution grow with Silvia in the years to come.”

Cubiñá, whose first official day on the job is Oct. 1, replaces former Director Diane Camber who, amid controversy, left the post in June of 2007 after 26 years at the helm.

The Moore Space, located in the 1920s-era Moore Furniture Company building in Miami’s Design District, helped position Cubiñá as a major player in the arts world. The gallery was founded by art collectors Rosa de la Cruz and Craig Robins as a showcase for Miami artists during the first Art Basel Miami Beach in 2001. Cubiñá was brought in the next year as the organization’s first director and curator, and under her leadership The Moore Space presented 33 exhibitions — 31 of them original. They included the 2007 landmark French Kissing in the USA, which featured works by emerging French artists. Other notable exhibits Cubiñá oversaw were created by artists such as Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, Carlos Amorales, John Bock, Sean Dack, Jeppe Hein, Tracy + the Plastics, Jonathan Monk, Aida Ruilova, Hernan Bas, Jim Lambie, Patty Chang, Joan Jonas and Yang Fudong.

The space quickly became one of the not-to-miss places during Art Basel Miami Beach and an important cultural center year-round, hosting lectures, guided tours, internships and other educational programs in collaboration with the Design and Architectural High School, as well as an artists’ residency program. The Moore Space is closing its doors in October, having lived out its purpose to fill a void that no longer exists.

“The Moore Space has been an important part of the cultural life in Miami,” said de la Cruz. “In the past eight years, it has made a significant contribution to the dialogue and understanding of contemporary art. I think that we’ve accomplished our goals.”

Cubiñá is excited about bringing the concepts that worked at the Moore Space to Miami Beach and helping the Bass Museum play a more central role in people’s lives.

“You know there’s such a lovely community, such an artistic community, in Miami Beach, that the Bass can really build on that, and make it a place where people meet,” Cubiñá said. “‘People,’ meaning kindergarten kids and adults coming for lectures, and it would be great to get a café going and make it a place where you can go and spend the afternoon on a Sunday.”

Born in Miami and raised in Puerto Rico, Cubiñá spent the past 20 years working in museums and art spaces all over the world, including as development director at the Mexican Museum in San Francisco and as an adjunct curator at the Institute of Visual Arts at the University of Wisconsin. Her experience includes an international lecture circuit, as well as participation on numerous grant panels and award selection committees. In 2006, she was a juror to the Guggenheim Museum’s Hugo Boss Award, and last year she held a prestigious fellowship at the Center for Curatorial Leadership in New York.

Because she doesn’t officially start until next week, Cubiñá wasn’t willing to divulge all of her plans for the Bass, but did give insight into where she plans to begin.

“What we’re going to concentrate on this year — my first year at the Bass — would be the programming, strengthening the programming,” Cubiñá said. “We’re working on strengthening the offerings. The educational programming, family days, lectures for adults, all of that, because there’s a community there and I think it’s the responsibility of all museums to offer very strong alternatives to going to the beach, going to the mall. I think it’s very important.”

Cubiñá looks forward to the challenges and opportunities the Bass Museum’s greater resources, such as a permanent collection and larger staff, will offer. The museum has a full-time staff of 12 and a budget of roughly $2.5 million.

“There was no collection at The Moore Space, so although it offered enormous liberties because we were able to be very flexible in making artist projects and commissioning new works, we didn’t really have the capacity to publish or to work with a collection. At the [Bass] museum we can work around the collection to do exhibitions. We can draw in exhibitions from other places. We can also originate exhibitions that include works from our collection and works that are borrowed.”

Fundraising and overseeing plans for a new wing are also in her job description. The original section of the museum building is the former Miami Beach Public Library and Art Center, designed by Russell Pancoast. An expansion of the building, which more than doubled its size to 35,000 square feet, was completed in 2002. A planned second phase will add another 33,000 square feet.

The Bass Museum was established in 1963 when John and Johanna Bass donated their art collection to the city of Miami Beach. The museum has the distinction of being the Miami area’s first public building with an exhibition space for fine art.

The museum’s image was marred in recent years by Camber’s departure and the associated controversy surrounding The Jade Collection of HIH Princess Thi-Nga of Vietnam exhibit, which ran from Feb. 8 through April 29, 2007.

Thi-Nga had appeared on the local arts scene a couple of years earlier, quickly becoming both chair of the Bass Museum’s board of trustees and president of the Friends of the Bass Museum — and creating a royal drama throughout the city.

Sparked by local arts gadfly Justo Sanchez, the American Association of Museums investigated the Bass for alleged unprofessional practices related to Thi-Nga’s collection, including charges that the pieces were not properly vetted and presented a conflict of interest because of Thi-Nga’s connection to the museum. It also sparked questions about Thi-Nga’s claim of royalty.

The museum was cleared of those charges last summer, but Thi-Nga’s local reputation never recovered. She abruptly resigned from the Bass Museum last fall amid a power struggle with city officials.

Since Camber’s departure, Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Director Gary Farmer has been pulling double duty: running the museum while also doing his regular job with the city. Farmer will help Cubiñá transition, gradually pulling away, although not completely.

“I will continue to be the city point-person for the Bass,” Farmer said.

Cubiñá takes the reins heading into the busiest of art seasons; Art Basel Miami Beach, in early December, is right around the corner.

“Silvia is going to be a great addition,” said Robert Wennett, a member of the selection committee and developer of 1111 Lincoln Rd. “Along with Art Basel Miami Beach, she will continue to raise our profile as a cutting-edge destination for contemporary art.”

The Bass will be hosting a special exhibit during the international art fair.

“It’s a show called Russian Dreams about Russian contemporary art,” she said.

Another important exhibition currently running at the Bass Museum is 20th Century Works on Paper From the Fundación Mapfre Collection: Picasso, Tàpies, Miró and Others. The show, which runs through Nov. 2, consists of roughly 80 pieces by renowned Spanish artists and other artists influenced by Spain. There are sketches and illustrations by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Sonia Delaunay, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia and Joaquín Torres-Garcia, as well as lesser-known artists.

“This ‘must-see’ exhibition explores the genesis of these great masters’ ideas through exquisite and rare sketches, oil and watercolors, and tempera works on paper that evolved into some of the most famous works of art in the world,” wrote Lee Ortega, Bass Museum director of marketing and public relations.

Also, through Oct. 19, the museum exhibits Splendor in the Bass: The Portraits.

“This installation highlights portraiture from the original John and Johanna Bass founding donation to the museum, and features traditional paintings from the past five centuries to the present day,” wrote Ortega. Works include 17th-century Italian, Flemish and Dutch examples by painters such as Anthony Van Dyck (1599 to 1641), Michiel van Musscher (1645 to 1705), as well as 17th- and 18th-century French court portraiture by Jean-Baptiste Van Loo (1684 to 1745) and Hyacinthe Rigaud (1649 to 1743).

The Bass Museum of Art is located at 2121 Park Ave., Miami Beach. Admission is free for Miami Beach residents with proper identification, $8 for nonresident adults and $6 for nonresident seniors. Call 305-673-7530 or visit www.bassmuseum.org.

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