Art Week Prepping

The Culture Edit, November 24th-December 7th

Author

Susan Bannon
November 23, 2025

Es Devlin’s illuminated, revolving “Library of Us” will grace the sands at Faena for Art Week.

The week after Thanksgiving, when Miami is indisputably the center of the global art world, is either the most exciting or the absolute worst time to live here, depending on your perspective. Whether you love contemporary art or just enjoy the sheer spectacle of it, having the world’s best galleries bring us work from their most talented, thought-provoking (or just provoking) artists is pretty amazing. BUT, navigating the multiple fairs, the traffic, the multi-tiered access, and the seemingly endless luxury brand “activations” is practically a blood sport that’s not for the faint of heart.

My advice for an enjoyable Art Week? If you’re not planning to ride it out in your bunker, the key is to plan ahead - like now. Below, you’ll find my highly edited picks for Art Week, starting with a short section on the fairs and then moving on to a day-by-day of other art happenings around town.

If art’s not your thing, not to worry! The calendar is stacked with theater, music, and early holiday performances. Plenty for everyone!

Last thing: the newsletter is too long this week to include the “Planning Ahead” section (sorry!). But you can scroll down to the bottom of my Highlights of the Fall issue for all the holiday performances.

Let’s get planning…

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Art Week Fairs: My Top Picks

“The Big Show”: Art Basel Miami Beach @ Miami Beach Convention Center (with Design Miami across the way)

The art world’s most important galleries bringing you their most important, most daring, most controversial, most beautiful stuff. Head straight to the Meridians section to see the pieces everyone will be talking about. And wear your most comfortable shoes!

Dec. 3rd-4th for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 5th-7th for General Public ($65-$120)

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Pauline | Drinks: Little Torch, Water Lion at the Sagamore

“The Solid Sidekick”: Untitled @ Beach Tent at Ocean Drive & 12th Street

A smaller, more manageable show (with smaller, more manageable prices) of high quality galleries and artists, in a glowing white tent on the sands of Miami Beach. Bring your sunglasses!

Dec. 2nd for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 3rd-7th for General Public ($25-$40)

Nearby Eats: Tropezón, La Leggenda Pizzeria, The Drexel | Drinks: Swizzle Rum Bar, The Piano Bar at The Betsy

“The Upstart”: NADA @ Ice Palace Studios

My favorite show! New and emerging artists from a non-profit art collective of young galleries, set in one of Miami’s most pleasant spaces, complete with garden hammocks.

Dec. 3rd-4th for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 4th-7th for General Public ($55-$75)

Nearby Eats: Bunbury, Miami Slice, Sokai Sushi Bar | Drinks: Kaona Room

“The Easy One”: Pinta @ The Hangar in Coconut Grove

If you want to experience Art Week without the traffic and spending eight hours on your feet, this small show of Spanish and Latin American art in the Grove is for you!

Dec. 3rd-4th for VIP’s (by invitation or $80), Dec. 4th-7th for General Public ($33)

Art Week Events by Day

Sunday, November 30th

Progressive Art Brunch: Art Week Edition

As longtime readers of this newsletter know, I adore the Progressive Art Brunch whenever it comes around. It’s a fun, prosecco-fueled sprint through many of Miami’s best galleries, so what’s not to love? But the Art Week edition is a special one, with every single participating gallery opening a new show - and very possibly their best of the year - that day for Art Week. If you can only attend one PAB all year, this is the one!

11am-4pm, Various Galleries, Free

Neighborhoods: Allapattah, Little River, Little Haiti

Nearby Eats: Hometown BBQ (Allapattah), the Citadel (Little River), Bar Bucce (Little River) | Drinks: Imperial Moto (Coffee), Off Site Nano Brewery 

Also November 30th:

  • Flex & Flux, a group show of thirteen women’s work, opens at Collective 62, with a reception from 2-5pm. (You can hit this at the end of your PAB crawl.)

Monday, December 1st

Spinello Projects’ 20th Anniversary Show

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Spinello Projects is putting on a blockbuster show of fifteen well-known artists that have been a part of the gallery’s history and Miami’s evolving cultural landscape. Changes: Reflections on Time & Space will show seminal works from founder Anthony Spinello’s personal art collection, along with new or recent works by the same artists, many of whom share deep ties to Miami. Featured artists include Esaí Alfredo, Marlon Portales, and Kris Knight.

Monday, December 1st, 2-6pm, Spinello Projects, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

Also on December 1st:

  • Nina Johnson Gallery opens Acid Bath House, a group show curated by Jarrett Earnest, plus site-specific installations by Emmett Moore and Dara Friedman, with an “oysters and martinis” reception from 6-9pm.

  • El Espacio 23 celebrates its latest exhibit, A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible, curated from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection around the theme of “territory,” with a public reception from 6-9pm.

Tuesday, December 2nd

ICA and Design District Openings

ICA Miami anchors a host of exhibit openings in the Design District on Tuesday with a special opening night reception in their lovely sculpture garden for five new exhibits they have to showcase, including Andreas Schulze: Special and Masaomi Yasunaga: 記憶の足跡 |Traces of Memory, marking the first US museum exhibit for both artists.

Opening Reception 6-9pm, Institute of Contemporary Art, Free for Members (or $50 to join)

Other (free) opening receptions around the Design District on Tuesday include:

  • Handle With Care, a group show DIY publishers and independent artists, at Dalé Zine (5-9pm, with a performance by artist collective Poincili Creación at 8pm).

  • Landscapes, the first Miami solo exhibition for Salvadoran painter Studio Lenca, at David Castillo (6-8pm).

  • That Was Then, This Is Now, a huge group show of 25 artists organized by American Art Projects, at Jeffrey Deitch (6-8pm).

Also on December 2nd: 

Wednesday, December 3rd

Sukeban World Championship Fight

Sukeban’s World Championship Fight, the undisputed winner of Art Week 2023, is back and bigger than ever! The brainchild of fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan, Sukeban features “the best fighters straight from the streets of Tokyo” in a riot grrrl-esque mash-up of wrestling, art, fashion, and anime. There are five fights on the card, the last being the title fight featuring Atomic Banshee defending her belt. It’s going to be epic!

8pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $76

Neighborhood: North Beach

Also on December 3rd: 

  • Acid Bash, a collaborative celebration of the new Acid Bath House exhibit at Nina Johnson Gallery and the launch of Issue 006 of The Whitney Review, featuring “Poets, DJ’s, Go Go Dancers, Ice Sculpture,” from 9-11pm at Brother’s Keeper.

Thursday, December 4th

Betsy Hotel Art Week Celebration

The Betsy Hotel celebrates a host of new exhibits for Art Week, including a new digital and acoustic commission by Miami artist duo LIZN’BOW for the “Betsy Orb,” the egg-shaped architectural wonder that serves as a bridge between their two buildings. In the main gallery, historic Wolfgang Volz photographs of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s groundbreaking installations in Miami (1983), Berlin (1995), and Paris (2021) will be the muse for a new commissioned dance work from former Martha Graham dancer Peter London and his troupe.

Public Reception 8-11pm, The Betsy Hotel, Free

Neighborhood: South Beach

Also on December 4th:

  • Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami’s largest artist residency, hosts its annual Art Week “Baker’s Brunch” to showcase its current exhibits and permanent installations, plus artist studio visits, 9am-12pm.

  • El Espacio 23 welcomes artist Tania Candiani for a performance around her “Substrata” piece, featuring original music by Mexican composer Concepción Huerta and the Miami Sound Space chorus, at 10am.

  • PAMM celebrates Art Week and its latest Woody De Othello exhibit with its annual Art Week party on the terrace, with an all-star reggae lineup curated by Rohan Marley, 8-11pm.

Saturday, December 6th

Locust Projects Art Week Closing Party

A rendering of Tara Long’s “Cake Grand Hall,” taking over the main gallery at Locust Projects.

Locust Projects has pulled out all the stops this year for Art Week, handing over the entire campus to Miami artist and musician Tara Long for her immersive LA ESQUINITA exhibit. The exhibit will include not just the giant cake pictured above (which comes with its own soundtrack), but also an immersive “Sweet Shop” with over 500 mini-sculptures, and a final destination humid swampscape that transitions to a pop-up speakeasy with performances til midnight.

7pm-12am, Locust Projects, Free (that’s right, it’s free)

Neighborhood: Little Haiti / Little River

Nearby Eats: La Natural, Bar Bucce, Blue Collar | Drinks: ZeyZey, Mi Chini at Phuc Yea

Sunday Art Week Brunches

  • UM’s Lowe Art Museum hosts a prosecco brunch reception followed by an artist talk with the Haas brothers on their sculptural works that blur the line between art and design, at 9am.

  • FIU’s Frost Art Museum hosts its annual Breakfast in the Park, with curator talks and museum tours, from 10am-1pm.

  • Supermarket Gallery hosts a South Asian breakfast, plus a final art week performance by Smita Sen, combining dance with body art and 3D printed sculptures, at 10:30am.

Theater

Here There Are Blueberries

Miami New Drama opens its season with Here There Are Blueberries, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist written by Miami New Drama co-founder Moisés Kaufman with playwright Amanda Gronich. Named one of the “10 Best Plays of 2024” by The Wall Street Journal, the play follows the true story of a mysterious album containing Nazi-era photographs that found its way to the U.S. Holocaust Museum archives in 2007. As curators unravel the shocking truth behind the images, the album soon makes headlines and ignites a debate that reverberates far beyond the museum walls.

Through December 7th, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $45-$95

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Left on Tenth

Gablestage presents Left on Tenth, a story of second chances in life and love, based on Delia Ephron’s best-selling memoir. After the devastating loss of her husband, Ephron is certain she’ll never love (or write) again. But an unexpected email from an old flame lands in her inbox, setting off the kind of whirlwind romance she used to write about.

Through December 21st, 7:30pm evenings, 2pm matinees, Gablestage at the Biltmore, $40-$60

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Upcoming Theater:

  • Through December 21st: to celebrate its 30th season, Actors’ Playhouse brings back its first-ever production, audience favorite Man of La Mancha, the beloved Tony-award winning musical inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote.

  • December 2nd-7th: as part of its “Broadway in Miami” series of touring productions, The Arsht Center presents the zany whodunit Clue, which I gotta say, looks like a ton of fun.

  • December 2nd-20th: the Children’s Theatre at Actors’ Playhouse presents its annual production of A Christmas Carol: The Musical, a family holiday favorite.

Music

Nash Bash: Maggie Rose

To kick off its Art Week programming, the Miami Beach Bandshell presents Nash Bash, a showcase of Nashville sound, headlined by Grammy-nominated singer Maggie Rose. Known for her powerhouse vocals and unique blend of rock, Americana, and R&B, Rose leads a lineup that also features indie-rockers Moon Taxi and country-soul outfit Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves.

Sunday, November 30th, 3:30pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $48

Neighborhood: North Beach

Handel’s Messiah

The South Florida Symphony Orchestra rings in the holiday season with its annual performance of Handel’s glorious Messiah (or at least Part I, the Christmas part). Get your “Comfort Ye” fix, courtesy of four dazzling guest vocalists and the South Florida Symphony Chorus. This festive concert also features a selection of favorite holiday pops. If you’re looking to get in the holiday spirit, look no further!

Sunday, December 7th, 4pm, Broad Center at Barry University, $30-$90

Neighborhood: Miami Shores

More Upcoming Music Events:

  • Sunday, December 7th: Music producer Tycho: ISO50 (aka Scott Hansen) brings his cinematic soundscapes and vibrant, projection mapped visuals to the Miami Beach Bandshell for a fully immersive experience, at 7pm.

  • Sunday, December 7th: the first of Seraphic Fire’s lush Christmas concerts, featuring a reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and a fan favorite playlist of all your favorite carols, at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church at 7:30pm.

Indie Cinema

Amigos: Screening and Director Q&A

Back in 1983, Cuban-born playwright and filmmaker Iván Acosta (El Super) was disturbed by the negative portrayal of “Marielitos” in Brian de Palma’s Scarface, so he raised the funds to make Amigos, the first feature-length film made in the U.S. entirely by Cuban filmmakers, artists, technicians, and actors. Filmed on location in Miami, the film presents “the other face of Scarface,” a bittersweet story of everyday struggles as experienced by Ramon, a Marielito who arrives in Miami ready to make a new life after being in prison for years. Acosta will be on hand, along with actor Ruben Rabasa, for a post-screening Q&A.

Monday, November 24th, 7:30pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $12

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Club Sinema 01 Anniversary Event

Masisi Radio and Club Sinema celebrate one full year of promoting work by local, Black, queer artists with a screening of five short films by South Florida filmmakers, followed by performances by DJ/producers 619! and B0YG1RL at the Little River Cultural Garden.

Friday, November 28th, 6-10pm, Little River Cultural Garden, $17-$23 (depending on whether you want popcorn lol)

Neighborhood: Little River

More Indie Cinema:

  • Wednesday, December 3rd: Filmgate Miami hosts its annual Best of Fest screening and awards, featuring the top picks from its monthly local short film showcase, at Silverspot Cinema at 6:30pm.

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