16 June 26 – July 2, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES B E S T º F M I A M I ® 2 0 2 5 dancers who aren’t. Together, they showcase their grace and skill as part of this self- labeled “physically integrated dance company.” The mission is all about understanding humanity through dance. Peterson herself is a dancer who trained in New York before relocating to Miami and founding her dance company in the 1990s. For the last six years, she also single- handedly organized the Forward Motion Dance Festival that provides a stage and a spotlight on inclusive dance companies and performers. BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC VENUE New World Symphony Wallcast at Soundscape Park 400 17th St. Miami Beach 33139 800-597-3331 nws.edu New World Symphony is housed inside a Frank Gehry-designed concert hall with ex- quisite acoustics. But while there are plenty of concert halls where you can enjoy live clas- sical music, what’s unique about the New World Symphony is what happens just out- side its walls. Several Saturdays throughout the season, the symphony offers Wallcast concerts simulcasting the music inside onto an outside 7,000-square-foot projection wall of the New World Center. The Wallcast is free for anyone who wants to sit on the grass (or blanket or beach chair for the well-prepared) of Soundscape Park. In the 2024-2025 sea- son, they hosted eight events under the stars, all to a packed park. While it’s true that with the Wallcast you’re outside and the musicians are inside, if you were seated in the air condi- tioning, you couldn’t enjoy a picnic feast with a breeze. BEST FESTIVAL FilmGate Interactive 168 SE First St., Fourth Floor Miami 33131 305-916-6973 filmgate.miami Smack-dab in the midst of Miami Art Week, this five-day interactive festival goes all in, tackling the latest in emerging multimedia storytelling. Festivalgoers discover a dizzy- ing array of virtual and augmented reality experiences. It’s like you’re Neo navigating the Matrix metaverse. The mind-blowing interactive exhibitions, many from interna- tional creators, show everything from a vir- tual reality where you come face-to-face with your inner emotions to an immersive experience where you embody a futuristic being climbing a staircase plucked from a famous painting. BEST OUTDOOR EVENT VENUE Banyan Bowl 11000 Red Road Pinecrest 33156 305-669-6990 pinecrestgardens.org With its spectacular dome and lush sur- roundings, the former Bird Bowl of Parrot Jungle is now Banyan Bowl at Pinecrest Gar- dens, a magical venue that provides just enough shade from the elements and access to the flora and breeze. The space shined es- pecially bright with its tribute to the Queen of Salsa with a three-day Celia Cruz Centennial Celebration with an exhibition that included her custom-made platform high heels and costumes from performances at Sans Souci and Tropicana. The Bowl’s Tropical Nights Live series is a musical mélange of mambo and salsa that gets everyone in the 500-seat amphitheater dancing in the aisles and its an- nual jazz series is heading into its 16th suc- cessful year. BEST ARTIST Lee Pivnik leepivnik.com A born-and-bred South Floridian, Lee Pivnik holds the region and its issues at the core of his practice. His show Chimeras at Dále Zine last year constructed a fascinating eco-futur- ist world where queer rebels evaded a dysto- pian government in the swamps of a flooded future Miami. He also received a coveted Cre- ative Capital Awards grant to build an aqua- ponics farm in his own home. From science fiction to science fact, Pivnik’s visions are a sight to behold and a lot to consider. BEST PHOTOGRAPHER Rose Marie Cromwell rosemariecromwell.com Miami-based and Sacramento-born, former Oolite Arts resident Rose Marie Cromwell has had a potent year. Her photographic docu- mentation of a cross-country road trip taken with her daughter and mother formed the ba- sis for her ICA Miami show A Geological Sur- vey. It reinterprets themes of family and the female body through the lens of the American landscape. She’s also exhibited work at VISU Contemporary Gallery and Soho Beach House in Miami Beach. Her work offers intimate scenes, composed and colorful representa- tions of the city, and beauty in the mundane. BEST ILLUSTRATOR Brandon Martinez instagram.com/hi_brandonm On Brandon Martinez’s series of illustrations of Zaha Hadid’s downtown masterpiece, the One Thousand Museum skyscraper, he humbly ex- cuses himself on Instagram saying, “Some- times the ideas don’t land!” But they do! The digital illustration was created with a brush that mimics Conté crayons, stripping back the iconic building to its most essential elements — exaggerated curves, gill-like protrusions, and a façade that resembles armor. Some of the illus- trations resemble the genitalia, while others look like the circulatory system. This is all to say that Martinez’s work doesn’t feel excessive, even though his muse is often the city of excess, Miami. Another great example is his take on Brickell’s Atlantis condominium building — best known for its placement in the opening credits of Miami Vice — for his article “The At- lantis or the Postmodern Beacon of Biscayne Bay” for Dále Zine’s printed newspaper, the Dále News. Arquitectonica’s design is reduced to simple geometric shapes, but even so, there’s no mistaking it thanks to Martinez’s skill. BEST ARTIST-RUN SPACE City State 6381 NW Second Ave. Miami 33150 citystateenterprises.com Too often in South Florida, decisions about which artists get funded and who gets shows are motivated by politics and made by non- artists. But no one knows the scene and its rising stars like the artists themselves. Thank the muses that Miami has City State. The in- dependent artist-run space authentically rep- resents the talent South Florida has to offer the wider contemporary arts scene. Located in Little Haiti next to Nina Johnson Gallery, it was founded by artist and filmmaker Jillian Mayer whose impressive resume includes ev- erything from prestigious fellowships to solo museum shows. City State is housed in a storefront meant for a day school and neigh- boring salon. This potentially mundane spot is anything but and includes studios, a gallery, and even a sculpture garden. Big things are coming from this little space, so stay alert, schedule an appointment to visit, or patiently await one of its sporadic open houses. BEST ART FAIR Gifford Lane Art Stroll Gifford Lane Coconut Grove 33133 instagram.com/giffordlaneartstroll305 Before Art Basel set down roots in the sands of South Beach, Miami’s art scene was, well, local. And while the city gained a lot in becom- ing an international hub for contemporary art, what it started to lose was a true sense of community. But not on Gif- ford Lane in Coconut Grove. Each March for 27 years, on two blocks of this canopied street, an arts-focused com- munity fair blossoms like a fra- grant gardenia. At the Gifford Lane Art Stroll, devoted neigh- bors provide mostly hyper-lo- cal artists and artisans with a platform to sell their work. Not everyone aspires to art stardom with a booth at Basel, and Gifford Lane Art Stroll recognizes that those artists need to be celebrated, too. The fair is also a joyous street festival where children play freely, their parents sip the signature cu- cumber punch, and the Grove does what it does best: authentically create, support, and preserve its community. BEST PUBLIC ART Thomas Dambo’s Joen and the Giant Beetle 2270 NW Fifth Ave. Miami 33127 thomasdambo.com Nothing quite brings a smile to people’s faces like Joen and the Giant Beetle in Wynwood. Created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo for Miami Art Week 2019, the giant troll relaxes, peering his enormous eye through a car tire while resting an arm on a car. As is the artist’s environmental philosophy, Joen and the Gi- ant Beetle was built entirely with recycled material. Over the years, graffiti artists have spraypainted all over Joen, making him look even more a part of the cityscape. To add to the whimsy, there’s even an accompanying poem for the piece: Joen looked at the little people Sitting in the giant beetle Always waiting in a line Spending all their days and time Joen had seen the giant beetle Eat and kill the little people But still, it seemed they loved it so So much they wouldn’t let it go. BEST MURAL Kyle Holbrook’s Miami Heat Mural 3550 NW Fifth Ave. Miami 33127 instagram.com/artworld187 Whatever Latin philosopher said “art is for- ever” will be greatly disappointed by Kyle Hol- brook’s Miami Heat mural in Wynwood. The colorful wall originally portrayed a larger- than-life Jimmy Butler as its centerpiece, sur- rounded by other local basketball luminaries like Bam Adebayo, Erik Spoelstra, Burnie the mascot, and Tyler Herro. But when Jimmy Buckets quit on our hometown team, a little commentary began to pop up courtesy of the artist. First the words “I quit” appeared on Jimmy’s headband, next came a sticker on the #22 jersey reading “clearance trade,” finally the artist added a cup of coffee to Jimmy’s clenched hand and filled it with dollar bills. Eventually, the entire sor- did chapter of this soap opera ended with Jimmy Butler traded to the Golden State War- riors. Jimmy’s likeness was painted over and replaced by the man he was traded for, Andrew Wiggins. But let Wiggins be forewarned, how he appears on this best mu- ral in town right now is not permanent.
