Art Basel Miami Beach crowd to cause traffic delays in South Beach, Miami (2024)

MIAMI – Some of the most important players in the world’s growing modern and contemporary art market are in Miami-Dade County this week, and that means more traffic and a need for more security.

For some, the annual journey to the Miami Beach Convention Center started in 2002 when the first Art Basel edition of the popular fair first founded in 1970 in Basel, Switzerland, showcased about 160 galleries and 30,000 people. Over two decades later, it will attract over 80,000 visitors and nearly 280 galleries.

Officer Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department, said drivers and tourists should expect police officers at every major intersection in the city and detectives collecting intelligence online about possible threats.

“We have detectives who are actively monitoring the traffic patterns,” Bess said.

The Julia Tuttle and McCarthur causeways, which connect Miami Beach and Miami, will have heavier traffic than usual, police said.

Local, state, and federal partners will be assisting the Miami Beach and Miami police departments who will be working with comfortable temperatures in the 80s and 70s this weekend.

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Entire neighborhoods come alive

The fair sparked the opening of local museums and a growing list of satellite fairs in Miami-Dade County. It also gave hope to an emerging community of local creatives who have found some year-round support from the tourism, real estate, and cyber tech sectors.

South Beach

Thursday is the main fair’s private preview. It opens to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Friday to Sunday and tickets are only sold online. The convention center’s floor plan for the fair has two levels.

Tickets are $58 daily for students, seniors, and Miami Beach residents. First-access 11 a.m. entrance tickets are $95 daily and $75 daily with afternoon entrance. The Design Miami combo ticket is $110 daily.

There are three VIP options: The Art Basel’s Discovery Premium + ticket is $3,500, the Premium+ is $2,000, and the Premium is $650. The events include Debra and Dennis Scholl showcasing their collection and a visit to Cuban-American artist Jose Bedia’s home.

Satellite fairs

• SCOPE Miami Beach opens to the public from Wednesday to Sunday off Ocean Drive, between Eighth and 10th streets. The single-day general admission ticket is $60.

• Untitled Art opens from Thursday to Sunday off Ocean Drive at 12th Street. The single-day general admission ticket is $55. American Express and Delta SkyMiles are hosting The Resy Loung at the fair with events on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

• Aqua Art Miami opens to the public from Thursday to Sunday at the Aqua Hotel, at 1530 Collins Ave. The single-day general admission ticket is $30.

New installation and exhibit

• Audemars Piguet Contemporary presents “Topography of Memory” by Brazilian artist Sallisa Rosa’s ceramics will be on display from Tuesday to Sunday, just east of The Bass Museum of Art, at the Collins Park Rotunda, at 2100 Collins Ave.

• “The Conceptualists” by Hernan Bas, a New World School of the Arts graduate, is on exhibit at The Bass Museum of Art, at 2100 Collins Ave. The museum’s daily guided tour is at 2 p.m., and there is free admission on the third Thursday of every month. General admission is $15.

Temporary spots for foodies

• Michael’s Genuine is running a café from 4 to 8 p.m., from Tuesday to Sunday at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, at 2000 Convention Center Drive. The garden will host several after-hour events including a Château d’Esclans tasting and Tribeca Festival talks with the likes of Robert De Niro and John Stamos from Thursday to Saturday.

• Capital One presents “Snow Beach Frozen Treats” an installation by Alex Israel, an artist from Los Angeles, in coordination with chefs José Andrés and Dominique Crenn, for rewards cardholders who RSVP, from 12 to 3 p.m., on Friday, at the 7th floor of the 1111 Lincoln Road building.

After parties

• DJ Mia Moretti is set to perform while Aldo Comas, an artist from Spain paints, on Thursday night at Do Not Sit On The Furniture, at 423 16th St. Tickets are about $37.

• DJ Henry Fong is set to perform on Saturday night at Bodega, at 1220 16th St. Reservations required.

Downtown Miami

The Pérez Art Museum Miami is presenting “Public Enemy,” an exhibit of about 70 works by Gary Simmons, an artist from New York. The museum has other exhibits and works including Yayoi Kusama’s “Love is Calling” immersive infinity mirror room and is hosting an invitation-only party on Thursday night.

Satellite fairs

• The New Art Dealer Alliance, better known as NADA, opens from Tuesday to Saturday at The Ice Palace Studios, at 1400 North Miami Ave. A single-day ticket is $55 or $35 for seniors or students.

• Art Miami+CONTEXT Art Miami opens with a preview on Tuesday until Sunday at the large tents on One Herald Plaza. A single-day ticket is $60 or $150 for a multi-day pass. The VIP pass is $285.

After parties

• Club Space has the $560 Space Basel Dec. 5-12 pass and the list of overnight parties includes Marco Carola and Solomun starting at $95 at 34 NE 11 St.

• E11even has overnight parties all week including one with Snoop Dogg on Friday, Lil Wayne on Saturday, and DeadMau5e on Sunday at 29 NE 11 St. Tickets are on Tixr.

Mid-Beach

New art installations

• Faena Art and Chase Sapphire present “MAZE: Journey Through the Algorithmic Self” by Sebastian Errazuriz, who was born in Chile and lives in New York. The 46-year-old artist used artificial intelligence (Midjourney and DALL·E 2) for the design with walls covered with sand. He also used QR codes and a digital book to enhance the experience of those who dare to enter the maze starting Tuesday on the beach just south of 36th Street Park.

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  Rules for visitors

• AmericanExpress Platinum is exhibiting “PLAY,” a set of interactive installations by artists Salehe Bembury, Kumkum Fernando, Serban Ionescu, Surin Kim, and Eny Lee Parker from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Thursday to Sunday, at the beach behind The Miami Beach EDITION at 2901 Collins Ave.

After parties

• The Soho Beach House will have member after-parties all week at 4385 Collins Ave. Members can have one guest at the beach tent after 6 p.m., and three guests at the pool house.

• LIV at Fontainebleau has TIËSTO on Thursday, John Summit on Friday, Kaytranada on Saturday, and a birthday party for DJ KHALED on Sunday, at 4441 Collins Ave.

Design District

• “Making Miami”: Attorney Vivek Jayaram and Katerina Llanes, a curator, partnered for an exhibit featuring dozens of local artists from Tuesday with a private preview to Dec. 26 at 75 NE 39 St. This week the exhibit will open to the public from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., from Wednesday to Sunday.

• “A Train of Thoughts”: The Craig Robins Collection exhibit opens from Wednesday to Friday at the DACRA Headquarters at 3841 NE 2 Ave.

• “Forms”: Artists Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch worked together on the exhibit opening from Tuesday to Sunday at 35 NE 40 St.

• Charles Gaines, an established artist from South Carolina, is exhibiting a new 1992-2023 survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art, or ICA at 35 NE 40th St.

• “House in Motion/New Perspectives” is on exhibit at the De La Cruz Collection, at 23 NE 41 St.

• Near the District: The exhibits and events this week at Wyn 317 Art Gallery, co-owned by sisters Danelle and Michele Pino at 4320 NW 2 Ave., are an ode to the local artists who started in the streets of Miami. Expect works by Quake, Atomiko (Luis Zuleta), Krave (Daniel Fila), and dozens of other talented spray painters who much rather not be named.

Wynwood

• Claudio Picasso, a Chilean-American artist from Miami better known as CP1 or CPWon, is spray painting a mural at J. Wakefield Brewing, at 120 NW 24 St.

• “The Art of Hip Hop:” StockX and the Museum of Graffiti partnered for an exhibit that opens from Tuesday to Sunday as an ode to a 50-year-old cultural movement, at 299 NW 25 St. General admission is $12.

• “Street Photographer”: The Margulies Collection at the WAREhOUSE is presenting an exhibition of over 170 photographs by Helen Levitt who died in 2009. The exhibit opened on Oct. 18 and it will be on view until April 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., from Tuesday to Saturday.

• Jessica Goldman Srebnick, of Goldman Properties, gave Art Basel VIPs a tour on Wednesday of Wynwood Walls, which includes murals by Shepard Fairey and Ron English. General admission is $12, and tickets for students are $5.

After party: DJ Miguel Migs and others will party during Essentials at the Racket, at 150 NW 24 St. Tickets are about $35.

Allapattah

• Reginald O’Neal, an artist who grew up in Miami’s Overtown, will be exhibiting his work from Monday to Jan. 13 at Spinello Projects at 2930 NW 7 Ave.

• Coralina Rodriguez Meyer, a Colombian-American artist who identifies as queer, will be exhibiting her work at the Cuban Cultural Heritage, at 3225 NW 8 Ave.

• “To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions” from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection is on exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at El Espacio 23, at 2270 NW 23 St.

• “Spirit in the Gift” by St. Louis-born artist Basil Kinkade is on exhibit this week at The Rubell Museum, at 1100 NW 23 St.

Little River

• The Locust Projects is presenting “Poetics of Place” by Miami’s Cornelius Tulloch and “Waterbirds: Migratory Sound Flow” by Tania Candiani, a Mexican artist from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Wednesday to Saturday, at 297 NE 67 St.

• “OMGWTF” is on exhibit at Primary, at 7410 NW Miami Court.

Little Haiti

• “Three-Legged Idols” by Japanese artist Yasue Maetake is on exhibit at the Nina Johnson gallery, at 6315 NW 2 Ave.

Brownsville

• Kobra (Brazilian artist Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Léon) is painting a mural at the Historic Hamptons House Motel, the home of the “Gimme Shelter” exhibit with works by dozens of artists, and an exhibit by Richard Mayhew from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily, at 4240 NW 27 Ave.

Edgewater

• “HOOPS Tree,” a public sculpture by Catherine Jenna Hendry, an Australian artist known as CJ Hendry, is on display at Margaret Pace Park, at 1745 N. Bayshore Drive.

Virginia Key

• Art With Me: The three-day music festival starts on Friday headlining Underworld and Polo & Pan at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive. Tickets range from $49 to $209.

Coconut Grove

• Satellite fair: Pinta Miami opens from Friday to Saturday at The Hangar, at 3385 Pan American Dr. Single-day tickets range from $20 to $60 on Eventbrite.

Brickell

• Artist Christopher “Flore” Florentino is exhibiting his work at the Mandarine Oriental at 500 Brickell Key Drive.

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