On Tuesday, June 23 Knight Foundation staff members and summer interns attended a performance of FUERZABRUTA at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center as guests of Dennis Scholl, the Communities Program Director for Miami. 

FUERZABRUTA is an interactive visual spectacle that packs six to eight hundred people into a dark room for an hour. Eight cast members manipulate the dynamic set pieces with their bodies and engage the audience with disposable props and pumping music. A giant treadmill and a plastic pool suspended over the heads of the audience make up most of the set. 

It’s easy to get swept up in the sensory show; audience members touch, throw, dance and move from place to place like the actors do. In a recent performance, one audience member got carried away and was kicked out for repeatedly punching the plastic pool.

The show has been touring for three years, debuting in Argentina and traveling across the U.S. as well as to countries like the U.K., Brazil and Mexico. One cast member noted contrasting energies between audiences in New York and in Miami. Another performer said that in Argentina the show is considered more a theatre piece than a work of conceptual art. Apparently the experience changes from city to city and from night to night, but everyone agrees the real party happens on the weekends.

In just a few months, architect Frank Gehry’s latest creation will dominate Miami’s artistic scene as the New World Symphony’s arts “laboratory,” where the musical and the visual will be combined into one dynamic arts experience.

In December 2007 the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation granted New World Symphony a Knight New Media Endowment of five million dollars. The money will be used for media innovations in the arts such as online broadcasting of performances, a digital music library, and integration of video art and music in the symphony’s new building.

The building seeks to allow a performance space for NWS while incorporating animated art and new media technology into the concert experience. Working with video artist Tal Rosner, who listens to musical pieces, sketches his reactions, and develops them into video graphics, NWS has already begun integrating the music world with novel video artwork. In Rosner’s interpretation of both Benjamin Britten and Igor Stravinsky’s works, changes in tempo, dynamic, and tone are all expressed visually in mutable combinations of color and line projected onto a screen behind the musicians.

Gehry’s design will take that music-video combination to the next level by permitting both art forms to exist throughout the hall rather than confining them to the traditional stage and back-drop. Acoustic sails all around and above the hall help to completely envelop listeners sitting in any section, and the experience is enhanced with two extra platforms for musicians situated in the middle of the seating areas. The design eliminates the division between audience and performer. In one large space, the music, the art, and the active listening and watching mingle to form an altogether new artistic experience.

It is impossible to predict the response to this kind of artistic collaboration. The new environment might overwhelm the senses; art purists may reject what could be viewed as a muddying of both media.

On the other hand, detecting change in an animated image alongside change in the music might help visual learners engage with the works. With shows as short as twenty minutes, or “journeys” as long as two to three hours, art will be available to anyone, at any concentration, in either musical or visual form. It is an opportunity for the arts in Miami to soar to a new level of accessibility.

Just a few months ago, the space was totally vacant. The several stories of performance space seem to have shot up in a matter of moments. More exciting than its seemingly quick arrival, however, is of course the building’s promised mission to challenge and change the Miami art world.

For more information, visit New World Symphony’s new campus online.

From more than 1,500 ideas, 45 finalists will move on to the next round of the 2009 Knight Arts Challenge!

The Knight Arts Challenge is an experimental contest that aspires to bring together South Florida’s diverse community through the arts. Great arts ideas poured in from the community during the month of February, and the 45 finalists include galleries, an opera company, and an independent music store along with many more smart, funky, and meaningful ideas. Projects stand to receive a total of $4 million in matching arts grants, and the winners will be announced next fall.

The finalists are as follows:

VISUAL ARTS

3D Miami/Frederic Snitzer
To further position South Florida as a cultural destination by exhibiting the contemporary sculpture of 90 artists throughout Miami-Dade County.
Available Space
To enrich community life by creating temporary, interactive public art displays in empty storefronts and vacant lots in underserved neighborhoods.
BELIART/Bernice Steinbaum
To spark interest in the arts among school children by producing an interactive, educational DVD set that focuses on great works.
Christy Gast
To provide free materials for nonprofits, schools and artists by creating a clearinghouse for donated art supplies and surplus goods.
CIFO
To cultivate progressive architecture by commissioning young, local architects to create an outdoor urban refuge using green materials.
COOPER
To provide access to expensive tools by creating a communal facility where artists can use heavy machinery and metal-casting equipment to produce their art.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
To expose new audiences to contemporary art by exhibiting the sculpture of Barry Flanagan and Tom Otterness on Fairchild’s grounds.
Friends of the Bass Museum
To promote imaginative thinking among school children through a curriculum-based art program.
Girls’ Club
To nurture the career of a South Florida artist by supporting an exhibit at an alternative gallery space dedicated to contemporary female artists.
Goldman Properties
To create a hub for creative activity in Wynwood by opening a multi-disciplinary office, performance and gallery space for a diverse group of arts organizations.
Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
To raise museums’ profiles by designating May as Miami Museum Month, when residents can join one of 18 museums and visit another for free.
Jerome Soimaud
To artistically explore Miami’s African-American neighborhoods by producing a free art exhibition entitled “Black in Miami.”
Locust Projects
To promote experimental art by commissioning three site-specific projects to be exhibited outside the traditional gallery setting.
Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs
To facilitate the exchange of ideas and goods by creating a ÒCultural CraigslistÓ where artists and groups can post openings and workshops, and can buy, sell or donate materials.
The Nature Conservancy
To highlight the importance of conservation by funding the Miami exhibition of “Design for a Living World,” a series of works by leading artists using sustainable materials.
Sculpture Key West
To promote contemporary art in a unique, historic setting by producing and documenting an annual sculpture exhibition at Key West’s two Civil War-era forts.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
To highlight Vizcaya’s historic and artistic importance by commissioning site-specific artworks inspired by this National Historic Landmark.
Eli Weberman
To provide a cultural destination in Wynwood where artists can live, exhibit their work and mingle with potential customers, tourists and other artists.
Wolfsonian-FIU
To expand the reach of the museum by turning its exterior walls into a public art display.

PERFORMING ARTS

Actors’ Playhouse Productions
To celebrate South Florida’s diversity by producing the first-ever musical in Spanglish on the Cuban migration to the United States.
City of Miami Mayor’s Office of Film & Cultural Affairs
To enrich Downtown Miami by presenting weekly performances during lunchtime.
Florida Grand Opera
To attract a younger audience to opera with a student matinee performance that features sets using projected and animated images.
Florida Grand Opera
To cultivate a new audience for opera by giving away 2,000 tickets to a performance of Carmen through a drawing.
Miami City Ballet
To celebrate the ballet’s 25th anniversary by producing five company premieres by choreographers who have shaped the group’s artistic identity.
Miami-Dade Parks
To increase community cultural offerings by expanding a free concert series at neighborhood parks to include both traditional American and Latin music.
The Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts
To expand the offerings at the historic theater — and ensure its sustainability Ð by creating an endowment fund.
Performing Arts Center Trust
To foster an understanding of the performing arts by bringing every Miami-Dade fifth grader to a production at the Arsht Center.
Mario Ernesto Sanchez/Teatro Avante
To support and enhance an award-winning Hispanic theater festival by adding a comprehensive Latin American theater conference.

MUSIC

Alliance for Musical Arts, Theater and Tutoring
To cultivate community pride by creating a Drum Line for 50 elementary school kids who will learn percussion skills and perform at local events.
Amy Rosenberg
To explore and celebrate Overtown’s rich music history by presenting an outdoor event featuring local musicians while historic neighborhood images are projected.
Chopin Foundation
To increase access to free performances by expanding the ÒChopin for AllÓ concert series, adding events in Palm Beach County and engaging local schools.
Miami-Dade Public Schools
To further develop local musicians by creating a mentoring program where professionals give guidance through master classes and collaborative performances.
Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc.
To increase opportunities for blind and sighted artists by expanding the center’s unique music inclusion program.
New World Symphony
To attract new and younger audiences by commissioning local artists to produce videos to accompany the music during select performances.
Performing Arts Center Trust
To broaden appreciation for South Florida’s gospel tradition by expanding Free Gospel Sundays at the Arsht Center.
Sweat Records
To strengthen a local resource by expanding community programming and creating an online site exclusively for buying local music and art.
UNCF/United Negro College Fund
To expand knowledge of a culturally significant musical instrument by supporting the Florida Memorial University Steelband Program.

FILM

Broward County Film Society
To celebrate cultures from around the world through a free film and community discussion series.
Miami International Film Festival
To strengthen the reputation of South Florida’s film industry by launching a marketplace where filmmakers and industry professionals can buy and sell film rights.
Plum TV
To increase the visibility of the visual arts community by producing a documentary TV series that follows key players as they prepare for Art Basel Miami Beach.

LITERARY ARTS

Hannah Kahn Foundation
To foster a dialogue through an author reading series.
Kathleen Hudspeth
To promote traditional print media and artists’ books by creating a communal print shop serving the arts community.

OTHER

BankAtlantic Foundation
To increase exposure to the arts by expanding a program that partners arts nonprofits with local elementary schools.
Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs
To ensure a thriving future for the arts by developing a plan to secure dedicated public funding sources for the arts in Miami-Dade County.
WPBT
To help local artists gain exposure by creating a regional arts news service that would provide free stories and electronic press kits for broadcast.

For more details, see the Knight Arts site.

Opening February 1st, the Knight Arts Challenge is a community-wide contest to fund the best art ideas in South Florida.

The deadline for applications is 9 a.m. March 2, 2009.

The video below is the first in a series for the Knight Arts Challenge from Miami World Cinema Center (directed by Josh Miller and Sam Rega).

From the press release:

Last year, Knight Foundation awarded $8 million to 31 groups – such as sculptors, musicians, prominent institutions and recently formed galleries. The winning ideas included creating a two-year, fellow residency for up-and-coming artists run by the University of Miami and housed in the Design District; a Haitian jazz series; and little league-like network of children’s choirs serving disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Find out more about the Challenge on the site.

More: video from the event with winners of the first round.

Last night, thirty-one South Florida art projects were awarded grants in the first year of the Knight Arts Partnership, a $40 million effort to bring South Floridians together through the arts. Winning projects include a two-year residency program for up-and-coming artists, a Little League-like network of children’s choirs, and giant, inflatable sculptures in Bayfront Park.

Onajídé Shabaka of Miami Art Exchange and artist Daniel Arsham were in attendance and offered their thoughts on the current Miami art scene:

Watch video of Miami Program Director Lorenzo Lebrija as well as videos of the winners and details for each grant on the Knight Arts site and in the press release.

As we’ve previously blogged, one section of Knight’s annual progress report asks what you think about the Miami arts scene and the new Knight Arts Partnership, a $20 million matching challenge to fund individuals and organizations with ideas for the future of arts in Miami.

I asked Rick of the South Florida Daily Blog (SFDB), who summarizes area blogs, to help us identify art bloggers whose audiences might be interested and have ideas for arts in Miami.

Rick posted an entry on SFDB yesterday (thank you, Rick), asking his readers which art blogs they followed.

The readers suggested a few in the comments (TuMiami, ArtLurker, a new Miami Art Exchange url). We plan to follow up with these blogs, and we’ve noted Roger L’s comment that summer isn’t, perhaps, the liveliest season of the Miami art scene.

What you think about the Miami arts scene? Other Miami art blogs you follow?

Tell us in the comments below or on the annual report site.

Part of the annual progress report, Knight Foundation asks what you think about the Miami Knight Arts Partnership.

Bonnie Clearwater, executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, explains some of their recent work in this video:

“We’ve gone from about 100 arts groups to more than 1,200 in the past two decades,” said Lorenzo Lebrija, Knight’s Miami program director. “It shows a real growth and maturing of Miami’s creative community.”

What do you think about arts in Miami? What would you like to see funded in the Knight Arts Partnership?

Leave a comment below or on the progress report site.

Editor’s note: Lorenzo Lebrija is the Program Director for the Knight Foundation community program in Miami and manages the Knight Arts Partnership, a new experimental art contest for South Florida, where the Knight Foundation is based.

The Knight Arts Partnership began with a simple premise: we don’t know all the answers, and great ideas are in the community. So, let’s ask for them. In the end, we received 1,643 applications with ideas for the arts in South Florida.

Yesterday, we announced to the community the 77 finalists for the Knight Arts Partnership. Our next step is to see whether the ideas, when explained further, are as good as the quick descriptions. Are the groups or individuals right to carry them out? Do they have a plan to raise the match of our funds? We’re excited to find out.

Not all 77 finalists will secure grants (we only have $4 million!), but we have a good pool from which some ideas, when fully developed, will stand out.

It’s going to be an interesting summer!