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Art

Launching a new image

Miami nurtures a thriving cultural renaissance, hoping to counter a lowbrow reputation.

By DAVID ADAMS and TAMARA LUSH
Published November 12, 2006

	An impressive sight from the air on its opening night in October, Miami’s Carnival Center for the Performing Arts consists of two massive performance halls linked by a pedestrian bridge over Biscayne Boulevard.
[Getty Images]

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] During its grand opening, crowds wandered in and out of the two halls, taking in the luxurious $450-million complex. The Ziff Ballet Opera House features cherrywood fittings with green and gold accents. The Opera House building also holds two small theaters suitable for more intimate performances. [Getty Images]

Before leading his first concert at the new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas turned to face the seats.

"You can hear us very well," he said. "And we can hear you very well."

It was Tilson Thomas' polite way to warn the audience about the hall's stunning acoustics.

Even as Miami celebrates the inauguration of its state-of-the-art center, the city is still learning how to handle the experience.

"This is the first attempt south of Washington to create a concert hall that responds to unmiked music," said Parker Thompson, 74, a local lawyer and chairman of the Performing Arts Center Trust, which steered the project from its inception almost two decades ago.

"The audience is going to have to be trained to what good acoustics are," he said. "And they are going to get better - the acoustics, that is."

The $450-million Carnival Center, so named after $20-million in donations from Carnival Cruise Lines, enjoyed a four-day celebrity-studded launch last month covering the spectrum from classical to pop. Hosted by Quincy Jones, the opening night gala included performances by Spanish opera star Jose Carreras, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and Miami's own pop diva, Gloria Estefan.

African tribal drumming, gospel choirs and Argentine tango sessions were among the offerings during a free daylong street festival. Mimes, stilt-walkers and roving bands entertained thousands of curious visitors.

For nearly 12 hours, folks wandered in and out of the two massive performance halls linked by a pedestrian bridge over Biscayne Boulevard, downtown's main drag. Visitors gaped at the peach seating and light wood interior of the Knight Concert Hall, and the deep cherrywood fittings with gold and green accents at the Ziff Ballet Opera House.

"This is amazing," said Marti Acosta of Miami Beach. "Everyone says Miami doesn't have culture or art. Now we have it all."

Acosta is one of the many people who have already bought season tickets. "I've been so impacted by the grandeur, the architecture, the artwork," she said. "It is truly a work of art. It's a big draw for Florida."

Something for everyone

Unlike Tampa and Palm Beach, Miami decided not to go with a single building containing several halls. Because Miami already has two large general-use auditoriums, it chose the two highly specialized halls linked together. Major performances will be held in the larger concert halls, but the Opera House building also has two small theaters suited for intimate performances.

The center was designed around four local companies: the Florida Grand Opera, the Concert Association of Florida, the Miami City Ballet and Miami Beach's all-student New World Symphony.

There was supposed to be a fifth local arts institution using the venue, but the Florida Philharmonic folded in 2003. No professional symphony orchestra has risen up to take its place.

The four resident companies will fill the halls just 25 percent of the time, leaving the rest of the programming to the center's staff. Though considered risky, it's also potentially more profitable, since a broad mix of offerings can fill more seats.

In addition to acclaimed local arts groups, such as the Miami Light Project and the Rhythm Foundation, national and international talent fills the roster. For the first six months, acts range from filmmaker and clarinetist Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band to violinist Itzhak Perlman, Brazilian legend Gilberto Gil, Colombian heavy rock band Aterciopelados and the Guinean quartet Ba Cissoko.

The center will also stage Broadway shows, standup comedy and contemporary dance. The classics will be well represented, including scheduled performances by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic of Russia.

Turning from 'Vice'

Delays during construction pushed back the opening by more than a year, also resulting in the center coming in $100-million over budget. With only about $120-million in private funding - including donation of the land by Knight Ridder, former corporate owner of the Miami Herald - taxpayers were left footing the bill.

Despite concern about cost overruns, local politicians stayed firmly behind the project. That's mainly because of an almost universal desire to see the city mature beyond its Miami Vice image. To be sure, the era of corrupt politicians and cocaine cowboys has not entirely passed. A former county commissioner was sent to jail last month for embezzling campaign funds. Two of Colombia's most infamous drug traffickers recently pleaded guilty in Miami court in a landmark case.

But these days, corruption and drug trials have to compete for media attention with reports on the latest major real estate project and the arts and cultural scene.

"People are still a bit disbelieving," says Rosa Sugranes, a successful businesswoman who moved here from Barcelona and is a member of the county's all-volunteer Cultural Affairs Council. "They watched it being built for five years and pretty much ignored it. Now the lights are on and everyone wants to go."

Thriving culture

Much may hang on the success of the new center, but arts officials say their hopes also lie elsewhere.

Driven by some of South Florida's wealthiest public-minded citizens, as well as the emergence of a talented and diverse pool of local artists, the region is developing what some experts describe as one of the most dynamic cultural communities in the country.

There are signs of it everywhere, from new and renovated museums and theaters, to packed houses at concert and opera halls, to major exhibitions and international arts fairs.

The new center sits majestically on the city's rapidly redeveloping waterfront, just north of downtown. Two new museums, one for art and one for science, are due to be constructed next door on a 25-acre bayfront lot, dubbed Museum Park, near Miami's busy cruise ship terminal.

This will be the focal point of a network of artistic attractions, including:

- A new Miami Art Museum.

- A Science Center of the Americas.

- The New World Symphony on Miami Beach, which is also planning a new educational facility designed by architect Frank Gehry.

- A Children's Museum on nearby Watson Island.

Arts and life

Michael Spring, director of the county's cultural affairs department, has a statistic he likes to recite. In 1983, when he came to work for the county, he was able to list just 110 nonprofit cultural groups in the area. Today, there are nearly 1,200.

For many years, the county's cultural affairs office operated on a shoestring. It now handles a $22-million budget for arts grants, as well as managing a number of capital projects.

Some critics fear the performing arts center could have a "death star" effect on the arts scene, putting small groups out of business. Spring says there's room for everyone; the county is also spending $80-million on a neighborhood network of 18 arts facilities, some new and some renovated, in outlying districts.

"We are strengthening our commitment to the entire community," he said. "A healthy cultural community is where big and small are healthy."

Developing a healthy arts community is all the rage in Miami these days, but some residents are waiting for the city to address downtown's social problems. "If you develop the arts in the absence of other necessary infrastructure, it's like saying 'Let them eat cake,' " said Daniella Levine, director of Human Services Coalition of Miami-Dade County, a social justice group.

By driving up prices, the real estate boom has worsened the city's acute lack of affordable housing. Some even talk of middle-class flight because of the failure of incomes to keep pace with property costs.

"The people who live here embrace diversity; they just haven't figured out how to deal with it," Levine said.

Defenders of the Carnival Center have no argument with Levine's assessment of Miami's problems. But they think arts funding is an effective tool for economic development, including new jobs and tourist attractions.

"Our view is that the arts are really important for building the capital of a city," said Spring. "They can also change lives and make them better."

Times Latin America correspondent David Adams can be reached at (305) 361-6393 or dadams@sptimes.com Times staff writer Tamara Lush can be reached at (727) 893-8612 or lush@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 10, 2006, 14:32:00]