Reciprocity in Art
Join One Museum, See Others Free This Month

Each institution has prepared a special roster of programming that includes cocktail hours, family days and educational lectures.

By Rayme Samuels

Need a break from sunbathing, sipping colorful cocktails and dancing until sunrise? All month art and culture enthusiasts have the chance to museum-hop at 16 Miami-Dade County venues.

On the heels of Art Basel Miami Beach and Art Miami 2007, Miami Museums Reciprocity Month prolongs the area’s commitment to celebrating the arts. Through this initiative created by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, residents and visitors are encouraged to become members of local museums during February, when joining any one of the participating locations ensures a free pass to all others.

Each institution has prepared a special roster of programming that includes cocktail hours, family days and educational lectures. What better way to immerse yourself in the city’s different cultural assets than by firsthand visits to a mélange of esteemed exhibitions?

The Jewish Museum of Florida, housed in a restored Art Deco synagogue on South Beach, is currently featuring an exhibit entitled BONIM: Jewish Developers Building Florida and Building Community, which showcases how Jews created neighborhoods and cities from swampland.

“Our mission is unique in that we address the immigrant experience, which is the story of every family,” says Marcia Jo Zerivitz, the museum’s founding executive director and chief curator. “When visitors come to the Jewish Museum of Florida, they see stories that are inspirational and that motivate them to think of their own ancestry.”

At the ArtCenter/South Florida, where artists-in-residence studios are always open to the public, visitors can meet the artists whose work they admire.

“This month we have chosen to celebrate the ArtCenter’s extremely talented artists-in-residence and Miami-Dade’s hard-working art educators,” says the ArtCenter’s executive director, Jeremy Chestler.

The exhibition at the 800 Lincoln Road gallery, The Model at Hand, features the work of resident artists David Almeida, Amalia Caputo, Barbara Rivera, Magnus Sigudarson and Agustina Woodgate, alongside ArtCenter alumnus Gustavo Roman.

The Haitian Heritage Museum, the only museum in the world outside of Haiti dedicated wholly to Haitian culture, is also in the spirit of reciprocity. Celebrating Black History Month, the organization presents Ayiti Expose, a program that teaches about Haitian culture and that country’s positive contributions to the international community.

Summarizing the benefits of Museums Reciprocity Month, Eveline Pierre, the founder and CEO of the Haitian Heritage Museum, says, “We are all pushing our memberships, but in essence this reciprocity supports and highlights the difference that all the centers have to offer. This program lets the entire community know about the other museums and gives them a chance to visit them and join.”

The closing party for Reciprocity Month is scheduled for March 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. at ArtCenter/South Florida, 800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, and admission is free. For more information about venues participating in Miami Museums Reciprocity Month, call 305-535-2631 or visit www.joinoneseethemall.com.

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