Every second Saturday of the month, Wynwood, in Miami’s design district, opens its galleries and streets to the public for an afternoon and evening of art, drinking, good food, and an eclectic taste of live music. The same places are open every month, but the experience is always different.
A band of street performers set up in front of Play-In on Second Avenue and started having so much fun jamming together, that they drew a crowd to watch. Ocean Grown Glass Gallery hosted a live glass blowing demonstration behind their store on the corner of NW 27th Street and Second Avenue – observers could stand inches away as a young woman and older man, both in sunglasses and hair pulled back into ponytails, used a personal fire to heat and contort the malleable glass into fun-size figures, the finished ones lay on the table in front of them.
Food trucks lined the streets and offered a unique take on a variety of cultural cuisines. There was an abundance of Nesquik throughout Wynwood last night – in people’s hands as they were walking around, empty, discarded bottles littering the windowsills and streets, I was never able to figure out why, there must have been some promotion earlier that I missed, but it was funny running into the animated Nesquik rabbit around every turn.
I also saw more families this time than I remember seeing in the past – it’s cool to see ArtWalk evolving into something that can be enjoyed by both younger and older generations, still coming together for an art-filled night on the town.
Multiple galleries were hosting live DJ’s right in their main gallery area, or in a back room once you walked through the gallery space. It added a different atmosphere and flavor to the art viewing experience, and definitely drew an audience that liked to dance. My favorite ArtWalk performer is Zoel, a bleach blonde-dreaded DJ who throws down at the Wynwood Walls every month, usually spinning jazzy, hip-hop instrumentals, and always enjoying herself as much as everyone else in the crowd. Last night she brought the electro-funk and definitely did not disappoint. Even as the galleries start closing down around 10 p.m., the strip of bars remained open and popping with the younger, late crowd. It was a refreshingly cool Miami night Saturday, perfect for the mostly outdoor event.
words and photos_karli evans.