Winning Arts Challenge Ideas Celebrate the Overlooked Miami
I’m a Miami native and I love this place. I don’t know where the moniker “Magic City” originates, but I see the magic in the pink clouds at sunset, in the steam rising off of cortaditos, and even in the symphony of car horns during rush-hour traffic jams. Yet, while it’s easy to get caught up in the sights and sounds that surround us, there is so much more to this place.
Miami has faces and facets that rarely reach the public eye, outshined by the overused tropes of a tropical playground. Its transitory nature belies the depth of a culture that is intertwined with the legacy of centuries-old European conflicts that played out in the New World and modern-day power struggles and exile. Its people are divided by language and economics, yet remain united by a distinctly Miami identity and the many ways that experience is expressed. Art is a foundation of this city, and its stories are at once international and uniquely American.
In that spirit, we proudly present this year’s Knight Arts Challenge winning ideas. These 44 projects speak to a Miami just beneath the surface, to the real, complex and incredibly interesting place not usually seen or heard.