The Beaux Arts Festival of Art has served as a major part of Miami’s cultural sector, bringing together all of Miami for a weekend dedicated to creativity and public engagement.
This year’s festival, which was the 75th Beaux Art Festival, ran from Jan. 17 – 18 and brought more exclusive art pieces and local artists to Coral Gables.
Hosted annually on UM’s campus, the festival remains the longest-running outdoor art festival in South Florida, and is only run by volunteers.
Artists transformed Stanford Drive into an open air gallery for anyone to wander through and observe their work. Vendors showcased different sculptures, paintings, jewelry and more for an excited audience to peruse and purchase.
In addition to the visual displays, the festival also showcased live music performances as well as several food pop-ups and other interactive experiences for all ages.
“It was a lot of fun,” Monika Gilicinska, a UM senior, said. “There was so much to see and everything looked so nice.”
Several artists themselves, both new to the festival and veteran, had great things to say.
Cheryl Sette, a venetian plaster artist from Naples FL, was glad to have an opportunity to appear at Beaux Arts as a returner for her second year at UM campus.
“It takes a long time and a lot of effort to make these,” Sette said. “Its great to see a large crowd appreciate it.”
Another artist, Phil Fung, said that he had been at Beaux Arts for over five years, and that he greatly enjoyed being back for another.
Fung originally started calling himself an artist his first year of college, and said that he enjoyed being able to share the story of how he became an artist with other college students.
“There was a cute girl that sat in front of me the first day, and one day I sat beside her and drew cartoons so she would like me,” Fung said. “We became friends and one day she turned to me and said, ‘Phil you are so good. You should be an artist.’ And I said, ‘yeahhh.’”
Even with a slight rain out on Sunday, the 75th Annual Beaux Arts Festival closed out as another great year of combining contemporary and innovative art with tradition.
Beaux Arts shows the importance of community and tradition, as well as the relationship between artists and the public. It greatly contributes to Miami’s vast cultural identity and demonstrates how to foster the creative life of the city.
Rather than emphasizing exclusivity or high-end markets, the festival looks to prioritize community engagement and the impact of the connection between artists, students and Miami.