Expanding horizons: with the Miami art world in the throes of rapid change, the author examines the impact of growth, spurred by the arrival of Art Basel, on public institutions, galleries and artists - Report From Miami

Collectors Go Public

Art Basel's Miami Beach edition came about, at least in part, through the urging of Miami collectors (particularly Norman Braman and Mera Rubell); perhaps as a consequence the fair, in turn, called upon Miami collectors to play an extraordinary role. In 2002, numerous collectors accommodated 20 to 30 visiting groups in their homes during the run of the fair. Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, who welcomed visitors every morning, also hosted a late-night dinner party for about 800 guests on ABMB's opening night. The following night, Craig Robins sponsored a giant block party in the Design District that accompanied a multitude of gallery openings attended by thousands of people. Many fair visitors went to a Saturday brunch held at the art-bedecked Sagamore Hotel on Miami Beach, owned by collectors Cricket and Marty Taplin. Fair visitors in '03 might also have a lock at the newly opened Four Seasons Hotel Miami, not on Miami Reach but the mainland; it houses a $3.3-million art collection comprising work by Miami-based artists of diverse origins, as well as by such major Latin American figures as Kuitca and Vik Muniz.

For the past several years, increasing numbers of Miami collectors have assumed highly public roles, contributing to the city's art culture iii ways rarely seen in other American cities. In May 2003, the two-story, 30,000-square-foot warehouse that holds the Rubell Family Collection closed for a major expansion and renovation that will not be completed for a couple of years. A new exhibition will open there, however, during ABMB 2003, running into February '04. After occupying the present building, a former drug and ammunition confiscation warehouse, for almost a decade, the collection outgrew the space. Further, certain alterations to the facility became necessary as the collection began to function as a museum, with regular hours and guided tours offered daily in six languages. On property surrounding the existing site, a two-story research library and storage facility will be constructed, as well as a residence for Don and Mera Rubell. Current galleries are being refurbished, and 14 new galleries, four new-media screening rooms, a public reception area, a bookshop and a garden will be added. The bookstore, operated by Phaidon, will be inaugurated this month. A history of the Rubell Family o Collection, titled Not Afraid, written by Mark Coetzee, director of the collection since 2000, will also appear. The approximately 300page illustrated book will explore the collection and present an overview of nine years of changing exhibitions.

The show Coetzee has curated for December '03, also titled "Not Afraid," deals with the theme of risk-taking by artists, collectors and institutions. Among the 150 art works by about 100 artists will be newly acquired pieces by Louise Bourgeois, Paloma Varga Weisz, Aernout Mik, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and others.

The Rubells' activities go beyond the warehouse facility and its programs. In 2001, they initiated a curatorial studies project, which attracts students from all over the world. Earlier this year, having long noted the paucity of guests at Miami Beach hotels during the summer months, Mera Rubell worked with the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council to inaugurate an artist-in-residency program. In its first year, the program provided workspace and lodging for eight artists, most of them from the Northeast, at Miami Beach hotels for 45 nights (the hotels provided the rooms free of charge); receptions and other events were held to foster a sense of community.