- 2 days ago
Opened in 2025, the landmark Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center in downtown Miami provided a unique chance to commission and acquire large-scale, integrated, and location-specific artworks that celebrate artists from Miami and further afield.
During Miami Art Week 2025 (including Art Basel and related events), we joined a guided tour of the new art commissions and acquisitions at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center. Following an introduction by Patricia Romeu (Chief of Art in Public Places), Amanda Sanfilippo Long (Curator and Artist Manager for Art in Public Places) led us through the building, showcasing 14 newly commissioned works by artists Edouard Duval-Carrié, Nancy Rubins, Phillip Smith, Karen Rifas, Morel Doucet, Tomm El-Saieh, Loriel Beltrán, Loni Johnson, Onajide Shabaka, Beverly Acha, Laura Tanner, Jennifer Basile, and Charley Harper.
Art Tour: Osvaldo N. Soto Miami Dade Justice Center: Commissions and Acquisitions. Miami (USA), December 6, 2025.
During Miami Art Week 2025 (including Art Basel and related events), we joined a guided tour of the new art commissions and acquisitions at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center. Following an introduction by Patricia Romeu (Chief of Art in Public Places), Amanda Sanfilippo Long (Curator and Artist Manager for Art in Public Places) led us through the building, showcasing 14 newly commissioned works by artists Edouard Duval-Carrié, Nancy Rubins, Phillip Smith, Karen Rifas, Morel Doucet, Tomm El-Saieh, Loriel Beltrán, Loni Johnson, Onajide Shabaka, Beverly Acha, Laura Tanner, Jennifer Basile, and Charley Harper.
Art Tour: Osvaldo N. Soto Miami Dade Justice Center: Commissions and Acquisitions. Miami (USA), December 6, 2025.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00I have the pleasure this morning to all of you in the masterpiece by our own local
00:22at work, who is here. So, please come and share please. Very busy in the last three days.
00:34So, we just want to give you a two-minute overview where you can be seen today. As you know,
00:41the art program is one of the largest in all these programs in the whole United States.
00:47We're very proud to be, you know, the source of work for a lot of our local artists.
00:53So, what you're going to be seeing today here, it's a wonderful collection of artists who have made commission for regional work.
01:00And we also have the acquisition program. The county has invested approximately three and a half million dollars
01:07in the work that you're going to see today. So, it's certainly a significant amount of money
01:12for our local artists and for others who were invited to be part of this process.
01:16So, you're going to be traveling to your tour guide. Your tour guide is going to take you to each of the floors
01:22in our bedroom. Please stay together. Very important. You cannot be unscorted.
01:27And they actually have information for you about the work. And in most floors, really, we have the artists as well.
01:33Because with the sides of the room, we're going to have to move quickly. Okay? So, every single floor is going to be about five minutes.
01:40Take your pictures. Take the selfies. Make the questions. I'm doing one. And we do hope. And we do hope. And you don't have to come back to this clinic.
01:50You're visiting. Okay? So, enjoy the day. And we look forward to seeing you back here when you are done.
01:58I'm also here very important by the person who actually makes, you know, the selection of the artists.
02:03And basically, the first step in our process is having great artists participating.
02:08And Amanda Sanfilippo Long is here by me. She's a curator of the artist management program. And a pretty cool, most important person in making all of this happen as well.
02:18So, thank you, Amanda, for making your happy.
02:23Thank you so much. And something very important that I, of course, I just failed to say, but I want to acknowledge.
02:30We have members of the Arti Poli Places Trust, who is actually the governing body of the Arti Poli Places Program.
02:37And thank you, Maggie, a bright chair, for joining us today. And she's going to be the coach group.
02:43And, of course, we know that everything that is done in the county is thanks to the support from Mayor of the Midnava
02:49and the Board of County Commission and the Cultural Affairs Council. So, thank you to all for making this happen.
02:55Group one is ready to go.
02:58Group one, group one!
03:01All right!
03:02Welcome, welcome!
03:08Group one!
03:09Group one!
03:10Yes!
03:16All right, we have all group one here. Which one of us, would you pick four?
03:19All right, good.
03:20All right, good.
03:21All right, good.
03:22Can I pick a bunch of four?
03:23One?
03:24Oh, what a beer.
03:26I just don't want that part.
03:28You see, wow.
03:29I mean, it's fun.
03:30It's fun.
03:31It's fun.
03:32It's fun.
03:33It's fun.
03:34It's fun.
03:35It's fun.
03:36It's fun.
03:37It's fun.
03:38It's fun.
03:39It's fun.
03:40It's fun.
03:41It's fun.
03:42It's fun.
03:43It's fun.
03:44So pleased to have you all. I hope to be having a small conversation with everyone from the creation of the floor. Of course, my name is Amanda Semple. I'm the Curator and Artist Manager for Art and Public Places, and I'm so pleased to be joined here by Maggie Hernandez, our Vice Chair of Art and Public Places Trust.
04:01What you're seeing here in front of you is three works by Nancy Rubens. Nancy Rubens is an artist based in California. She has one of the oldest careers in sculpture in America as a female sculptor. She is really well known for her large-scale works. You may have seen the Lincoln Center, countless museums across the world. We're really thrilled to be owning these works by Nancy Rubens. She's not here today, but she is sending her best, best remarks.
04:28We might call her a blue-chip artist with international acclaim. So she was thrilled about this. She was thrilled to have a connection with Miami with her depiction of boats and her kind of signature style. These are all hand-cut collages. So these are original photographs printed and then are cut and collaged. So you may want to have a look at these. These are museum collages. We're really, really excited to have this work by Nancy Rubens. So we'll take a minute, and then we'll be heading back to the elevator. Thank you.
04:54And of course, you'll see signage on the right-hand side if you want to learn a little bit more about the works.
05:01I also encourage everyone to use the QR code for the curated collection so that you can learn about the artworks as well.
05:08Martin Bayer. Martin Bayer in Ernie. Martin Bayer in Ernie. Yep.
05:11But he could be just, as the frame.
05:13He is in a room where he used to run the paper paper paper. And then he went to Washington.
05:23He'll use the plastic cockpit.
05:25Yeah.
05:25I like to know.
05:25I like to know.
05:27If I can ask you all to go around the elevator banks to your right, I want to also introduce
05:51everyone to Dana Pizzle from the Department of Postal Affairs. Dana and I are partners in this day today. Okay, and we're going to head down.
06:11You're welcome. Hello. All right, please proceed to the waiting room.
06:16Thank you. Hello. Oh, my goodness. Remember, you've got to get some shots with this. Philip Smith.
06:30So, oh, my goodness. So, this is Philip Smith's 30-foot painting.
06:37We are thrilled to have this work in our collection. Philip Smith is an artist who is based in Miami,
06:43who was born in Miami, but he spent 30 years in New York City. He's part of the pictures generation
06:47with many important artists throughout our history, and he paved the way for really incredible artwork
06:53and his body of work. You may recognize, if you're a fan of Philip's work, there are symbols that repeat.
06:59He has a kind of a hieroglyphics or a lexicon of symbols that come to mean various things for him
07:05throughout his life. They all have depictions. They mean different things. Hands mean healing,
07:10the universe, interconnectedness. Philip just had a major museum show at MoCA North Miami,
07:16which featured 40 years of his artwork and an incredible showing, and we couldn't be more
07:22delighted to have these important works by Philip Smith in the collection.
07:26And he has a great book, Walking Through Walls, that Amanda Long means. So good.
07:30Yes, Philip has a really fascinating history with Miami. He's got some very, very deep roots here
07:34and tells incredible stories about the city. So yeah, check out Philip Smith's one.
07:39Yes, and one of the important things about art public spaces is that we want to educate the public on art.
07:45So our name boards, what the artists and the blurb about the artwork, they're important to us.
07:52Yes, yes. And I should also say, if anyone would like one of these pages for the curated collection for the courthouse,
07:58you can just come over to me and scan the QR code and you'll get all of the artworks in the entire collection.
08:03Then you can tap on their name and read the description of the artwork as well.
08:07So if anyone would like that QR code, please come over to me and I'll provide that.
08:10So we're going to process it this way, so the next group can come in.
08:13Yes.
08:16Don't worry, we're going to find your buddy.
08:17We're going to find your buddy.
08:25How did you hear what it's for today?
08:27Good.
08:27Hi, group's leaving.
08:30You're coming.
08:32You're coming.
08:33Yes, ma'am.
08:34We're moving.
08:36Yeah.
08:37This is a lot of fun.
08:38Very good.
08:40How's it?
08:41Yeah.
08:41Yeah.
08:41Look, I like how the new tour is coming in, it's really going, it's good, it's sweet.
08:51We're going to 22 a minute.
08:5322.
09:02We're all here.
09:04And let's stand in front of your piece.
09:06Yes!
09:07First of all, you have to look out the window.
09:10Do you see the view from the courthouse?
09:12You can look down at the courthouse.
09:14Oh, come on.
09:15All the shades.
09:16How are you?
09:18Congrats.
09:20Hello.
09:21Come here, Karen.
09:22Okay.
09:23If you didn't hear, our artist is here.
09:25Hello.
09:26Karen.
09:27Karen Reifus is with us and she's going to say just a few words.
09:31Just a few words.
09:32Okay.
09:33This was thought about and came about because it was the second year of COVID and I finally
09:40left the house.
09:41I had used up all my paper and I went to Jerry's Art of Rama and I got myself a little push cart
09:48and I filled it with these panels, brought them home, arranged them, screwed them together,
09:55drilled them, screwed them together, unscrewed them, painted them, and each piece became a separate
10:02little piece.
10:03And then the idea here was to figure out a way to move your eye across this long space
10:11and have them all interact.
10:13But yes, each piece is different and you can just kind of look at one and enjoy it or look
10:19at none and look out the window at the beautiful courthouse.
10:22Well, Karen, you know, this is coming from your longstanding interest in geometric abstraction.
10:28Right.
10:29And the ways in which, you know, color fields are meeting each other, different planes,
10:33different visual depths.
10:35And then also what's really fascinating to me about this work of Karen's, in addition
10:39to her, as you may know, her flat work or work on paper, is that the relationships,
10:44the spatial relationships, they're all kind of coming from these building blocks.
10:48That's right.
10:49So it's building blocks of color.
10:51Right.
10:52Right.
10:53And one of them, I like to be a little deceptive, so all of these pieces, if you look from
10:58one direction, it'll look one way.
11:01And if you, especially this little piece here, if it were down here, everything would
11:06line up exactly.
11:08So there's fun and games.
11:10And if you're sitting here, I guess, for a long time, it might be nice to, yeah, to experience
11:15them.
11:16Does anyone have, I'll take one question for Karen.
11:18Go.
11:19Harold.
11:20This is your chance.
11:21All right.
11:22We're overwhelmed by the amazingness of this.
11:23Thank you very much.
11:24It's beautiful.
11:25It's just a bit of pleasure to do and exciting to think about this space.
11:38I mean, it's just gorgeous.
11:39Yeah.
11:40And Art in Public Places is so lucky to have not only this work from Karen, this large-scale
11:44installation, but several works on paper.
11:46And then in addition, a very large-scale tile mosaic artwork on the exterior of a public
11:50housing facility in the southern part of the county, which is a masterpiece.
11:53So please visit that on our collection website as well.
11:55And Karen, we can't thank you enough.
11:59Stay up here and more people will come.
12:11Okay.
12:12Bye, Harold.
12:13This way.
12:14This way.
12:15We have to go this way.
12:17This way.
12:18This way.
12:19This way.
12:20We have to go this way.
12:21I said, I'm coming here to see the keys beside the others.
12:27Leave no man behind.
12:34Leave no man behind.
12:36Group one is exiting now.
12:40The title of this artwork is called Sunset Serenade, Notes on a Vanishing Landscape.
13:04This work is inspired by a residency that I did in the Everglades.
13:09I lived in the Everglades for a month, and during the residency, the concept and evolution
13:14for this artwork came to pass.
13:17The work is inspired by the South Florida landscape as relics and motifs from the Caribbean.
13:25I'm Haitian-American.
13:27The work is thinking about ideas of the future, the landscape, and how it's going to change.
13:34With the motif is this idea of looking through my memory.
13:39A lot of the forms and shapes is looking at vegetation from South Florida and the Caribbean.
13:46In terms of the color palette, it was inspired by the sunset.
13:52I wanted a very warm color palette with a contrast of the cooler tones on top of it.
13:58In the courtroom, I wanted something that was going to be very happy.
14:01It's a very serious environment.
14:03I'm just sitting down.
14:05It's a moment to reflect and contemplate on the environment and think about
14:09this is an incredible landscape we have here in South Florida.
14:12This is Vernissage TV, so hello Vernissage TV!
14:19Leaving to Basel and across the world.
14:21Let me know if you guys have any questions.
14:23Yes.
14:24It's beautiful.
14:25What material?
14:27It's a mixing-y artwork.
14:30The largest part of the panel is a process called aluminum dye bond.
14:35It started off with a painting that I did through Photoshop.
14:40Then we're able to take the painting and print it directly on aluminum.
14:44We're able to sculpt everything up.
14:47The attachment is also aluminum.
14:49They're powder coated.
14:51I did a contrast between ...
14:54There's a very matte film over it to protect it from fingerprints and things like that in the future.
15:01Then there's vinyl application throughout the work as another layer in the work as well.
15:06In total, there's about three different processes inside of the work.
15:10Great.
15:11Well, Merle, we want to thank you so very much.
15:14Beautiful.
15:15I'm here to get a group coming.
15:17Get ready for a fun day.
15:19All right, team, we're going to exit that way.
15:22Group's one.
15:23We're going to exit this way.
15:33Kick it out.
15:34Awesome.
15:36Thank you, monsieur.
15:42Oh, yes.
15:54Group one.
15:56Group four.
15:57All right.
15:59So you may have seen his work at Central Fine Gallery, which is a Miami-based, very important
16:17Miami-based gallery run by Diego Singh and Tom El Saiz, an artist-run gallery.
16:22Yes, you're familiar, good friend.
16:24These are some serious Miami roots, but I'm really excited to share that their artwork was
16:29all on the wall in the convention center at the Central Fine Gallery this year at Art Basel
16:34Miami Beach, so we're so proud of our hometown heroes here.
16:38Both Tom and L'Oreal are having magnificent careers, as well as Diego Singh.
16:43We couldn't be happier for them and the magical rollercoaster ride that they're on.
16:49They're doing very, very well, and we're so happy.
16:51This artwork by Tom El Saiz, of course, he paints it in his studio, and there's a lot
16:55of sort of symbols and rhythmic experiences, so I encourage you to get really close to
16:59this artwork.
17:00It's actually called Versus Versus.
17:02There's sort of a natural vortex that happens in the center.
17:06Tom was inspired by many things, but also by kind of the view out to Biscayne Bay, so there's
17:11an element of site-specificity as well that he's working on in this artwork, you know, picking
17:16up the blues and greens of the bay, which you can see in a spectacular vista in the window.
17:21Do you want to tell about the floor, too?
17:23Oh, of course.
17:23So, Atmospheric Floor by L'Oreal Beltran really comes from the experience, and many
17:28of us have had this in Miami, when you see a very particular gradient when the sun's going
17:33down between turquoise and orange.
17:35In the Miami sunset, there's sort of this magical moment where you're having this turquoise-orange
17:39that's very specific to Miami, I might say, the particular color gradient experience
17:45that you're having, and L'Oreal was interested in finding those types of moments where the
17:50gradient and the color theory, the two colors, when they're next to each other, they sort
17:54of buzz, and you have this phenomenon of color that occurs on your retina.
17:59So, L'Oreal Beltran is very interested in that.
18:01He comes from a series of, you know, many, many great masters of Venezuelan op art, and
18:06he's very interested in that, in that legacy, and building it into his own, his own work.
18:12Oh, you're very welcome.
18:14Crazy.
18:17Yeah, please, quick question.
18:18Just out of curiosity, are you having any plans for, like, the technical works?
18:24So, we did build in these custom frames, and of course, they're not covered, but we feel
18:29that this, you know, provides a kind of gravitas for the artwork, and that we're, you know, we
18:34feel confident, you know, when you come into this building, it is open to the public, certainly,
18:39but everyone needs to go through security, everyone is usually here on business, and
18:42there's also security, you know, individuals posted on every floor throughout business hours.
18:48So, we feel confident, but yeah, we are looking at some major value here with some of these
18:54artworks or museum-quality artworks, and of course, we're very proud of that.
18:58Children's more practice.
19:01Yes.
19:04Yes, exactly.
19:05Okay, wonderful.
19:05We'll have your last looks, and then we will be proceeding to the...
19:08Seventeenth?
19:09To the seventh of the floor.
19:13It's just magical.
19:14Usually, you get to see, like, a single-panel work by Tom, but it's very great.
19:17Okay.
19:18It's a double-panel.
19:23What are the views of the photons?
19:25Yeah, yeah, and this color palette is very, very subtle.
19:28Great.
19:28And there's a lot of dry, dry scenes in here.
19:31The dry brush.
19:31Some of you should draw on that first.
19:38Yeah?
19:41I was like, I was excited to live with Mariela, Mariela.
19:45I was going back to this.
19:46Oh, my gosh.
19:47You're on the wrist.
19:49It's a crazy moment.
19:50All right, everyone, I'm really excited to share that L'Oreal Beltran is here with us.
20:12I'm so pleased and honored to have him, and for many reasons, very proud and happy.
20:16So, L'Oreal, please share with us a few words about the painting as well as the floor, and thank you so much.
20:23Hey, everybody.
20:24Hey.
20:25Yeah, so, I mean, the painting and the floor are related.
20:30I sometimes, you know, make works on paper to figure out the, you know, the colors and, you know, really, like, you know, think about the colors before I put a painting into production.
20:40And, you know, when this opportunity came about, I was thinking, you know, like, okay, I can try to, like, translate these works on paper to the terrazzo, you know, and see if it has that same effect and if it works.
20:56And I'm very happy with the way it works.
20:58I mean, it's nice that I can transfer something from, you know, you know, work on paper to a floor or to another surface.
21:06And a lot of these works, I'm thinking, I mean, I started thinking first of color theory, where you mix complementary colors to get realistic color.
21:18So, that's how I started a lot of these works, so, like, orange and blue are complementary, and, you know, when you put them, right, like, if you mix them together, you get, like, you know, like a, like a, either like a neutral blue or a neutral orange or a gray.
21:31So, but after I started making these works, I realized they also look very atmospheric.
21:36They kind of mimic the effect of, you know, like, like just, you know, like looking at the sky at certain times, you know, especially the morning or the evening where, right, like the atmosphere is reflecting different sort of spectrums of color.
21:52And so, I thought it was interesting to, like, think about these works as sort of atmospheric, in part because there's a contradiction between how material the work is and how constructive it is, but also, like, how it gives you this, like, very, like, light and, like, sort of, like, you know, atmospheric effect.
22:13So, I like to put things that are in contradiction with each other.
22:17And also, this work, I like to weave a lot of things into what I, you know, into what I do.
22:23And, you know, I make other works that deal with other ideas and, you know, ideas of geology and biology.
22:30So, I was thinking of, you know, we drink a lot of the Cuban coffee in the studio and I'm always left with all those cups, you know, so, you know, throwing the cup away in the garbage, you know, at some point it made sense that, like, oh, I was throwing this in the garbage.
22:45I was going to go to the landfill and get layered.
22:47And the process of my work is, you know, layers of paint, but, you know, the process of my work is putting those layers of paint and then exposing the layers.
22:56The process in the landfill is putting those layers and nobody's ever going to go see it except maybe in a thousand years or five thousand years.
23:02But, you know, they're trying to study your civilization or something.
23:05But I thought it was interesting to, like, kind of change the layering from the landfill to the painting and make that, you know, just the process, like, visible.
23:18And then, you know, thinking of these atmospheric works, I was also reading at the time about, you know, like, the amount of, like, microplastics they're finding in the atmosphere.
23:26So it's strange to think of the atmosphere as something that's material and full of particles, you know, right?
23:33Like, we think of air as, like, nothing, but obviously air is, you know, like, different things, but it's also now filled with pollution that we're internalizing.
23:44You know, so we, I feel like pollution used to be something that we thought of as, like, separate from us, right?
23:51We're polluting the landscape, we're polluting the ocean, but now we're, like, polluting the atmosphere or food and ourselves.
23:58So I like that including this, it reflects that condition, you know, it's a very contemporary condition where we're internalizing our waste.
24:07So I think, you know, like, by doing something simple with two colors and throwing some coffee cups, we can, like, really talk about a lot of other things, you know.
24:16But I think it also connects really widely to a lot of people's experience of work knowing that there's coffee cups from the studio and really making that all kind of come full circle to everyone's everyday experience of Miami,
24:27which is also about the way that you experience light in Miami and the turquoise and the orange in the sky and things like that.
24:33Yeah, in a funny way, it's a very Miami work, you know.
24:36Yeah.
24:37Yes.
24:38One question for L'Oreal.
24:39Yes.
24:40It's you.
24:41It's you.
24:42It's you.
24:43No, no, you were the question.
24:44Oh, okay.
24:45Yeah.
24:46Yeah.
24:47Well, maybe you explained the colors, but I was just curious how you decided on these colors.
24:52And is that more about the sky?
24:55And then this is, the orange is a bit different.
24:58Did you, is it that you like these colors or was there something?
25:02I, you know, like, I try a lot of different colors on paper.
25:06Maybe you'll explain.
25:07And then I decide which ones, you know, either have, you know, more contrast.
25:14Or contrast or, right?
25:16Like there's different ones that I want to explore.
25:19So I've made a few paintings using similar palettes.
25:22Um, I wasn't looking at a particular sky.
25:25I mean, I think it's, the sky changes all the time.
25:28Like this color could be at any time.
25:29It almost doesn't matter.
25:31Um, you know, I was just interested in this combination of colors.
25:35And actually I, in this painting, I usually make them out of two colors.
25:39This painting actually has four colors, which was like a different development.
25:42But you know, it's pretty much.
25:44Sure, for sure.
25:45Yeah.
25:47Wonderful.
25:48Thank you so much.
25:51We have other groups coming to you.
25:53So we'll, we'll let that happen and rock and roll.
25:55Okay.
25:56See you later.
25:57Bye.
25:58Thank you everyone.
25:59Group one, please come this way.
26:01Oh, you've ever heard of a customer?
26:02Yeah.
26:03Yeah.
26:04It's a very simple.
26:05One, two, one, two, one.
26:09Okay.
26:10I'm looking up.
26:11Good.
26:12Good.
26:13Good.
26:14Good.
26:15Good.
26:16Good.
26:17Good.
26:18Good.
26:19Good.
26:20Good.
26:21Good.
26:22Good.
26:23Good.
26:24Good.
26:25Good.
26:26Good.
26:27Good.
26:28Good.
26:29Good.
26:30all the way, group two, group two, group two, group two, group two, group number two.
27:00Oh, my God.
27:04Group number two.
27:06We're going to 17.
27:08Group two.
27:14Group two.
27:16Group two.
27:18Group two.
27:20Group two.
27:22I really appreciate that.
27:24Hey.
27:26Group two. Go with Pablo.
27:28Group two. Get out of here.
27:30Group one. Come and talk them out.
27:32Group two.
27:38That's my mom coming.
27:40Mom, thank you so much.
27:42That's my mom.
27:44Yeah. And my cousin.
27:46They're all at work.
27:48Thank you so much for coming.
27:50I want to raise here.
27:52Everyone, we're so pleased to have Monique Johnson with us.
28:02We're delighted and honored to have her.
28:04Woo!
28:06Monique, you were excited about her magnificent artwork.
28:10So thank you all for coming.
28:12I want to raise here.
28:14I think that it's really important as an artist to kind of use my craft to harness and nurture these stories,
28:22specifically black history, black Miami stories.
28:26So with this piece, his arrow never misses the mark, I was really focusing on how my parents ended up migrating here to Miami.
28:36My mom, who's here today, was a military brat.
28:42They kind of floated around, but then my grandparents brought their home in Cutler Ridge, which was a predominantly white neighborhood.
28:49And right after the Fair Housing Act was passed, my grandparents brought their home.
28:54So they were one of the first black families to integrate Cutler Ridge.
28:58But then there was my father who kind of, he came from a very small, small town in Alabama.
29:05And during Jim Crow, his great uncle kind of started this migration because he had to kind of leave because he was accused of something that he didn't do.
29:15So just imagine being in that time, being accused as a black person, he had to either flee or lose his life.
29:22So he started that migration.
29:24So I kind of wanted to talk about how Miami was this place of solace and refuse for my family.
29:30So there's a lot of images of celebrating, gathering.
29:35So this idea of joy and resilience and solace, but then it being here in the courthouse was really important to me, too,
29:43because I feel like I know for a fact that folks, especially brown and black folks come into this building and their lives can change forever.
29:51So if I can provide a moment of just rest and pause and peace for folks for just a moment, then I want that to be the purpose of this piece being in the waiting room.
30:04So, yeah.
30:05Can you speak to the color of the wall, Lonnie?
30:08Yes.
30:09So the pink is an homage to my grandparents' home.
30:13There was a specific room, the pink room, we called it, that all of our cousins, and she can attest to that, we would have to spend in that room.
30:22But what was so powerful about that room, that the room was like covered with pictures of family, memorabilia, and all of these things that kind of connected us as a family.
30:33And I really don't think that my grandparents realized that they had like this altered space in the house.
30:39So as a way for nostalgia and warmth, I incorporate that pink in my installations a lot.
30:47So that's me.
30:48Let's have one question for Lonnie, and then I'm going to head to the elevators.
30:51Okay.
30:52One question.
30:53Don't be shy.
30:54Don't be shy.
30:55How are your images sourced?
30:59Oh, yes.
31:00So my father is our documenter.
31:02Oh, cool.
31:03So I'm really lucky that I have access to an amazing personal archive.
31:08So these are all family personal archival images.
31:12Yeah.
31:13From Lonnie.
31:14Thank you so much.
31:16Thank you for coming to us.
31:19See you next time.
31:20Yep.
31:21Bye.
31:23You're welcome.
31:27Yes.
31:28Yes.
31:29Yeah.
31:30It's inspired.
31:31It's inspired by-
31:32Well that's why I have to.
31:46Because I didn't want to.
31:54This is copper and brass, and the background is a porcelain tile, and the project took like three and a half years to complete, and they just finished it like probably last week, and they put a tear nowhere to the bone, so it's a long process.
32:15How closely does this relate to your traditional work or normal work that you're creating in the studio?
32:27Very similar. I mean, the tiles in the background came from a ceramic piece that I did.
32:37What was the main challenges you had in installing and creating this piece?
32:42Well, I didn't install it. I paid somebody to install it, and I paid somebody to fabricate it, so basically the commission had a budget, and the budget allowed me to hire people to do the work, and so basically I designed it and supervised parts of the installation, and I was here when they installed it, and I was in the shop when they did some of the fabrication,
33:10and so, you know, to improve stuff like that, but basically I hired it out.
33:15Right. Is this the first time you've been in that kind of process?
33:18Uh, no. I haven't done another project. It's over at the Opelika Airport, another installation, but it's outdoors. Sculpture, metal, a little bit of sculpture.
33:29So, compared to you doing it by yourself and working solely in the studio, which do you prefer? The augmentation of the help of another?
33:36Well, I mean, I don't do metal fabrication on my own. I mean, I work with wood, but not with metal.
33:43Gotcha.
33:44So, hiring it out is the only way for me to do that. I don't have the tools anyway.
33:48Gotcha. Are you happy with the results?
33:50Oh, absolutely. It's just a default. You should like it too, right?
33:53I do.
34:03Any other questions?
34:05This group is bigger than the ad group.
34:13Thank you very much.
34:15Thank you, David.
34:16You just got here.
34:17You're welcome.
34:20Good morning.
34:22Thank you, Stephanie.
34:33Are we staying?
34:34Group one, just stay for a moment. We're going to stay just for another, like, two minutes, and then we'll head our way as well.
34:40How are you doing?
34:42How are you doing?
34:43How are you doing?
34:44Aaaaay, I'm not here.
34:46When you're running right now.
34:53How are you doing?
35:00How are you doing?
35:05Good morning.
35:06How are you doing?
35:07How are you doing?
35:08How are you doing?
35:09Did you have a good art week?
35:11Confer?
35:12Did you work that?
35:13It's been pretty awesome.
35:14No, I did it.
35:16I did it with an impact drill.
35:23Yeah, exactly.
35:25I mean, I gave you a shot and then...
35:29Exactly.
35:31I'll see you later.
35:33Did you actually do a little piece?
35:37No, I didn't.
35:40It's pretty sleepy.
35:47Group four, it's time to exit.
35:50Group four.
35:52Group four, it's time to exit.
35:55Group four, it's time to exit.
35:59Group four, it was time to exit.
36:03His last box isn't official.
36:11I think I missed it.
36:12Do you exciting.
36:13Not too good?
36:15Nope.
36:16These are the best bloggoleers ever.
36:18Go to another, see Justin Couettes.
36:21Oh
36:51This time we got it.
37:08Thank you so much.
37:10Oh, that's all I know.
37:12Oh, really?
37:22Thank you so much.
37:24Thank you, everybody.
37:26You're the best.
37:28I think another group.
37:34Oh, it's a family!
37:38Yay!
37:39Hi!
37:40How are you?
37:42So good.
37:43I saw those in the original picture.
37:55Well, welcome, everyone.
37:57I'm so excited that we have Miami-born, but Vermont and New York-based, Beverly Asha, with us today.
38:06We're so excited to have her, and she's here to say a few words to us about her masterpiece here.
38:12Aw, thank you.
38:13Thanks for coming.
38:14This has been, like, really much more fun than I was telling Amanda.
38:17I didn't know what to expect, but I will just say a little bit, and then I'd love to know what you want to know.
38:24People have had great questions.
38:25In two minutes.
38:26In two minutes, yeah.
38:28This is an oil painting, and my work is often inspired by natural forms.
38:36And so I've looked a lot at, like, diagrams and also just observing the way, like, flowers grow, so my own observations.
38:43And this sort of grew out of a painting I had made a while ago of these two spirals, and it felt like this really exciting, having this really long format was an exciting way to think about kind of a tumbling spiral growth.
38:56Spirals.
38:57Spirals.
38:58Lots of spirals.
38:59And also thinking about it as, like, a form that follows humankind throughout history and throughout cultures, and a structure that we can find also throughout different things.
39:09But anyway.
39:10It would be great to take one or two questions.
39:12Yeah, questions.
39:13It's on wood?
39:14It's on linen.
39:15It's stretched.
39:16Those of you who paint in oil might have any inkling of how difficult this is to achieve.
39:21The precision, the smoothness, all of the different incredible techniques that Beverly has.
39:26How well, does it different from, like, painting on a canvas and a small one to a surface like this, like, to get your strokes so coherent in such a big scale?
39:40Well, I did use a projector to put my sketch at the scale, because it also needed to connect perfectly at every boundary, because the forms are so precise.
39:51So that was a new thing for me that I did for this project that I don't usually do.
39:55And then in terms of painting, the shapes themselves are not that big, like, the individual sections of color.
40:00So it felt more normal, you know, in terms of actually doing that.
40:04But getting the image on there was hard.
40:06But you're painting following the spiral, like, in the green one.
40:11Yeah, you're following the shape.
40:13Yeah, I'm following the shape, yeah, most of the time.
40:15Yeah.
40:16Yeah.
40:17The yellow dots, they help focus?
40:19Like, that, that, that, cross, draw across.
40:22Do the dots mean anything more concrete?
40:25No, they don't.
40:26But that's, I mean, I added them in at the end.
40:28They were one of the last things I decided where to put.
40:31I mean, obviously, I needed to create space for them to go, like the ones on the ends, for example.
40:36But I sort of figured that out once I had started painting the big version, because it felt like I needed something at a smaller, something a little smaller that kind of pushed you from big to little.
40:46And I, and I used myself as looking at it as, like, I, and also you can kind of follow them across in two directions, I think.
40:53So, what you said, I like.
40:55Because I think they also anchor.
40:57They're these little kind of, like, anchor punctuation.
40:59And bounce you around as well.
41:00Yeah.
41:01Yeah.
41:02Yeah, they're killed.
41:03Well, Beverly, thank you so much.
41:10And that's one of those cards, if anybody wants a picture.
41:12Of the guys kind of in the last.
41:14I was like, it would be nice if you wanted to take away.
41:15Do you know what I do?
41:17Oh, why not?
41:19Here, let's come.
41:22Good.
41:23Thank you so much.
41:25That was awesome.
41:27Good.
41:28Good.
41:29Good.
41:30Good.
41:31Good.
41:32Good.
41:33Good.
41:34Good.
41:35Good.
41:36Good.
41:37Good.
41:38Good.
41:39Good.
41:40Good.
41:41Good.
41:42Good.
41:43Good.
41:44Good.
41:45Good.
41:46Good.
41:47Good.
41:48Good.
41:49Good.
41:50Good.
41:51Good.
41:52Good.
41:53Good.
41:54Good.
41:55Good.
41:56Good.
41:57Good.
41:58Good.
41:59Good.
42:00Good.
42:01Good.
42:02Good.
42:03Good.
42:04Good.
42:05Good.
42:06Good.
42:07Good.
42:08Good.
42:09Good.
42:10Good.
42:11Good.
42:12Good.
42:13Alright, welcome. First one, I'm really excited to introduce you to Laura Tanner, who is here with us today, who is the artist responsible for a very, very special artwork that we've commissioned. I'm going to let her speak a few words about this very special piece.
42:29Thanks, you're welcome. Hi, Laura, Amanda said. So this piece is titled Homage de Cielito Lindo. So Amanda and the city asked me to create a work that would commemorate the old courthouse.
42:46So I had the opportunity to go there and tour all of the different floors, spend some time in the courtrooms where lots of significant court cases had taken place, like, you know, the trial of Al Capone, amongst others, and also see some floors that people get to see, like the penitentiary floors, which are the top floors of the former courthouse, which is why it's called Cielito Lindo, because you could only see the skyline when it was built from those floors.
43:14So they called it beautiful sky. So after touring the courthouse, I got to go home and think about some things, reflect on that and the conversations that I've had. And then I asked them to collect some of the items that I saw on the tour so that when I went back, I could build a reference image to draw from.
43:36That's usually how I worked through a process. They collected all of those items, we put them in courtroom six one. And I started to arrange them. And as I was arranging them, the staff and the justices all heard what was happening.
43:49And so everybody started to visit. And then they would want to go and grab something from their office or grab something that was significant to them. So it became like a very living kind of process and image here that embodies a lot of the stories that they told me as they were bringing me their objects.
44:07So you can see those across the drawings here. They are drawings, they're ink on Duralar. So I do an ink drawing on the front, and then I turn it over to add the color.
44:19Sometimes I'm able to add the color on the front too. So I do either a all back, a front or a combination of the two. And that gives me kind of like three different layers that I can work with. So it's a painting process.
44:31This is a custom designed wallpaper. It uses the embossed cement tile that's underneath the awning of the old cork house. And then I got to go through the archives of old photographs. So you see some here from Romare Gleason that's included that shows the evolution of the
44:49courthouse over the years. The first courthouse to the one across the way here. And then images of the bench and staff from the 1920s that occupied that courthouse and the bench from 2025.
45:04And they're almost in the same location. And they're a really, really beautiful photographic carrying there from the sort of starting bar and then the ending bar.
45:11Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So that was a really fun discovery to see that and know that this other picture had been taken and kind of compare.
45:18And then finally, we have some screen prints of artifacts from the courthouse when it was originally built. So these objects exist in the other courthouse.
45:28But we chose to create them as screen prints to kind of have cohesiveness across the image and add some of the color in.
45:36Absolutely. Folks, please take the next minute. Ask questions to Laura. Come and see this up close. The drawings are unbelievable.
45:41There's so many goodies packed into this artwork, so many symbols, so many pieces of information. If you want to get the actual specifics on her artwork, you can come and scan this little code here and read the description.
45:52There's a lot. So you'll be reading a lot. History and goodies packed in.
45:57What's the significance of the tap?
46:00Of the nozzle here?
46:02Yeah. So those were just nozzles that were used in the bathrooms and other things there. And so they were saved as artifacts over there.
46:09Yeah. And then I'd flip in and add the reader.
46:19Thank you so much.
46:22Yeah.
46:24That's awesome.
46:25I said.
46:26That was awesome.
46:28I said, yeah.
46:29The top is the original courthouse. So before that one was built...
46:32So I think this one was actually a...
46:37I didn't remember how it was.
46:39This courthouse is not on this occasion.
46:41Right?
46:42It was a parent.
46:43Actually, no, this one went on-site.
46:45This one was on-site.
46:46Back in the middle of the course.
46:47Yes.
46:48It was actually demolished.
46:49It was not the first courthouse that we were not supplied.
46:51and it was it was on site and it was demolished to build the 1928 courthouse
46:55that's okay
46:55and then they shoved it off the barge i'm sure they just shoved it but it went onto the banks
47:11of the miami river and that was the first courthouse and then this one was built um
47:16on the uh you know in the in the 1870s on the site yeah okay thank you and this image here is taken
47:25from the el comodoro hotel which was a famous hotel in downtown miami which has an interesting history
47:30as well and these are both images by gleason weight romer the well-renowned florida and a
47:35baseball photographer yes we're going to take group one we're going to we're going to say goodbye to
47:40laura we're going to walk this way to jennifer russle to see her very very
47:44very
48:01group one continue this way
48:02my goodness yeah no i never
48:09i wish we could walk right up to it yeah
48:20i mean we could never tell anyone we could just not tell anyone that we didn't i think there's an
48:25eye in the sky it sounds good to me i mean i'm okay with that
48:31you don't know i think if we did it literally in a single file line we just walked past it
48:36yeah came right back okay
48:42so the title of this piece is postal anchor um i was inspired with this project to do sea grapes um
48:50because first of all if you don't know my work all of my work is florida-based landscapes everglades
48:57a lot of the early work were about mangroves long time ago i had a residency at deering estate that's
49:03when i really started to get very deeply involved in the florida landscape um and all my work is about
49:10the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and a voracious appetite to document the landscape as it is always
49:16changing um especially based on the storms that we have and you know the different types of
49:21climate change that we know we are already experiencing here in florida at least if you've
49:26been here at least as long as i have or grew up here your whole life you know it is different
49:30um and in this particular case you know after doing like lots of other types of things it was
49:35just sort of inspiring to do this um there are a few places left in miami that you can go and
49:41enjoy the beach with no people i'm not telling you where i do that i'm not telling you okay but it
49:48does require walking about a mile through hardwood hammock area and then going through that area out
49:55towards the beach where there are many sea grapes um and so that's sort of the natural landscape of
50:02florida that we dismantled uh for quite some time in order to build what we have here today
50:11yes
50:30all right everyone welcome
50:32we have some amazing artworks by the artist named charlie harper now this was not a brand new
50:55commission this is really what we call a rescue so uh we were really really pleased to be able to work
51:02with judge jennifer bailey who was one of the first judges at the civil probate courthouse judge
51:07jennifer bailey remembered this work and maybe some of you do too from the anhinga trail at the
51:12everglades national park it was an artwork that was installed on the trail and it was commissioned by
51:18the national park service by charlie harper who's an important mid-century modern artist so we're really
51:25excited to be able to show you these amazing works that were commissioned by the national park service
51:30by charlie harper um they after hurricane andrew they were damaged they went into storage and they
51:37sat there for many many years uh they then were transferred to the ownership of the city of
51:43homestead florida which stewarded them and stored them for another couple of decades and then judge
51:50bailey through her advocacy arranged the donation of the artworks to miami-dade county art and public
51:56places collection we were able to receive the artworks hire a professional conservator to restore the
52:02artworks uh through this artwork uh process at the commission uh at the courthouse and see them in
52:09their glory as they were uh you know back in from 1976 was their original commission date so please take
52:15your time walk around they're animals of the other glades they have three dimensions so the metal pops off
52:20the walls so be careful to to read them carefully visit the qr code read the signage uh about charlie
52:25harper we're so excited the artist restored them or is he still uh no the artist is it has passed away
52:32the works were restored by rosa loenger conservation uh you know professional conservator yeah so please
52:38enjoy them they're number eight we're going to make our way to the 13th floor
52:52when i saw
53:08like when you know you get called for it yeah
53:33they're so playful
53:38they're so
53:52they're so
54:04I would love to touch it, but, like, I think that the...
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