Mi-ami?

No, Your-ami!

The over-the-top art fest that takes place in Miami the first week of December can feel wonderfully inclusive to all the artists participating in the two dozen or so fairs scattered throughout the city, but you don't need me to tell you that it can feel woefully exclusionary to everyone else. This year the embrace of opportunity extends a bit wider to artists thanks to two interesting initiatives.  

Both have specific offerings and terms, so here I'm describing the highlights and providing a link to the specific websites. Then it's up to you to decide whether and which you choose to enter. I'm posting info early because submission deadlines are approaching.

View from last year's edition of Square Foot at Projects Gallery, Miami

Square Foot Art Basel Miami Three
Projects Gallery, Wynwood

Submission deadline:  November 6, 2015

Exhibition Dates:  November 28, 2015 – January 9, 2016
Cost to enter: $60 for two entries

Full prospectus here

Allow me to quote directly from the gallery's Call to Artists: "Once again Projects Gallery will create a mosaic-style hanging that will cover all the walls in its Wynwood Lofts gallery in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami.  Last year’s event showcased over 300 works from around the world. The first 100 artists to apply will automatically have artwork on the wall. New this year: Twenty-four works will be shown in the gallery’s suite at the Aqua Art Fair, December 2-6."

A view into Projects Gallery suite at Aqua Art in 2014

The 24 works will be curated by dealers Helen Hyder and Frank Hyder from the works submitted. All artists working in all mediums are eligible, but there is a size and price limit. Works cannot exceed 12 inches in any dimension and must be priced at or below $1,000 retail. I like the inclusionary aspect of the submission process as well as the possibility of curatorial selection into Aqua Art, and I like that the gallery exhibition will continue into January.

(Just so you know, I have shown with Projects Gallery and will again have work with them at Aqua Art.)

. . . . . .

Art in America
Curated by artist and independent curator Julie Torres at The Satellite Show, one of 40 rooms in Tiger Strikes Asteroid's event, Artist Run
Ocean Terrace Hotel, Miami Beach
Submission process: Ongoing as of this posting
Exhibition dates: December 1-6
Cost: There is no charge to upload an image to the exhibition website, but selected artists may be asked to contribute $50 toward the cost of the exhibition
Full prospectus here

Here's Torres describing her vision and plan for the show: "Art in America will assemble a constellation of artwork from across the U.S., featuring one small work per artist, representing every state plus Puerto Rico. The installation will act a visual and quite literal map of activity, documenting the current conversation of and about artmaking that is quietly taking place across the country, often among emerging, remote and in some cases under-exhibited artists. Art in America will provide an engaging survey of compelling work being made outside metropolitan art meccas, while highlighting commonality of surface, approach, material—and the rich visual language spoken in myriad dialects throughout the U.S."

Part of the page from the exhibition website

When you load your image onto the exhibition website, it becomes part of an enormous grid, so even work that is not selected will have visibility here before and after the show. Torres describes it as "a living document being viewed and shared by hundreds of visitors."

Geographical context for the exhibitions

Both exhibitions are situated near other fair venues. Projects Gallery is in the Wynwood gallery and design area near the Art Miami and Context fairs, as well as the Rubell and Margulies private collections. Aqua Art is short walk to the Convention Center where Art Basel Miami takes place, as well as to Untitled, and Scope. Torres's Art in America exhibition at the Ocean Terrace Hotel is a couple of miles up from the Convention Center, on the beach near Miami Project, Art on Paper, and NADA.