Miami awards recognize, support outstanding artistic work

The CreARTE grants funded by the Pérez Family Foundation are back for round two with more than $1.5 million for local cultural organizations. The program launched in 2019 to support access and education for the arts, and artist fellowships and residencies in South Florida.

An open call for applications kicks off Monday, with pre-proposals due May 28.

“Our primary goal is to help provide quality arts programming for all residents in the community and make Miami a place that continues to be known for its artistic excellence,” said Belissa Alvarez, executive director of the Pérez Family Foundation. The foundation partnered with the Miami Foundation to administer the grants.

The first cycle, in 2020, awarded grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 to 23 local groups including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the Miami City Ballet and the Miami Book Fair. The awards are given every two years.

The foundation expects to have fewer grantees but larger grant amounts this year, Alvarez said.

A $100,000 CreARTE grant allowed the Miami Book Fair to launch a fellowship program for emerging writers. A grant of the same size helped the local nonprofit Guitars Over Guns strengthen its after-school arts education programs.

The foundation will select applicants via an internal committee working with a dozen external evaluators who previously have included artists and art teachers. Applicants will be notified the week of June 28 if they have moved on to the second phase. Winners will be announced in the fall. The grant’s first iteration garnered around 200 applications.

An informational webinar is scheduled for May 5 at noon. The grant application will be available at the miamifoundation.org.

CAMPOS-PONS AWARDED PEREZ PRIZE

Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons has been named as the recipient of the $50,000 Pérez Prize for 2021. The award, funded by Jorge and Darlene Pérez, was announced Saturday at the annual Art of the Party fundraiser for the county’s public art museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami, also supported by the Pérez family.

Campos-Pons is known for her multimedia practice that incorporates photography, painting, sculpture, film, video and performance reflecting her history as a descendant of Nigerians brought to Cuba as slaves in the 19th century. The museum holds several of her works in its permanent collection. A series of Polaroid prints comprising the work, “The Magician’s Tools,” are now on display as part of the show, “Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection.”

“The Pérez Prize honors creatives who use art to overcome the challenges that affect our society most,” said Jorge M. Pérez via a statement. “As an acclaimed professor and artist — who’s touched so many through her work exploring history, race and culture — there’s no one more deserving of this prize than Maria Magdalena. I couldn’t be more honored to support her in furthering her craft.”

The Art of the Party, a hybrid in-person and virtual event, also raised over $500,000 for arts education, according to museum director Franklin Sirmans.

MCAD URBAN AWARDS ON MAY 20

The Miami Center for Architecture and Design announced six finalists for its third annual Urban Warrior Awards. This year’s nominees in three categories include architects, a developer and a lawyer.

The center also named Mayor Daniella Levine Cava as Chief Urban Warrior, a new award and a designation that will remain in perpetuity.

“We wanted to highlight people in the community who are urbanists or people in design who are doing things to make the community better, especially in the urban core,” said Cheryl Jacobs, executive vice president of the Miami Center for Architecture and Design.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony May 20 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. General admission for the online event is $25. An in-person event will be held for 20 VIP ticket holders at $50 each.

The awards ceremony is a signature event for the organization and its only fundraiser, Jacobs said. Around 20 nominations came in this year for the 2021 winners.

This year’s event includes a new category: the Young Urbanist award, a membership category for people under 35.

To purchase tickets and for event information visit aia-mcad-events.org/

The finalists are:

Lifetime Achievement Award:

▪ Architect and historian Jorge L. Hernandez, a professor at the UM School of Architecture and an avid preservationist.

▪ Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, former dean of the UM School of Architecture as well as an architect and urban planner who helped create New Urbanism and is co-founder and principal of DPZ CoDesign.

Visionary Award:

▪ Developer Avra Jain, has worked to transform Miami’s urban core, especially with historic mid-century projects such as The Vagabond, South Pacific, and Gold Dust motels along the historic Biscayne Corridor.

▪ Urban Planner, Tony Garcia, principal of Street Plans Collaborative and a nationally recognized architect, writer, speaker and advocate in the field of transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Young Urbanist Award:

▪ Daniel Balmori, senior associate at Hogan Lovells and an advocate for The Underline as pro bono counsel who has dedicated more than 200 hours of legal advice to lead the legal efforts of the group’s transformational public-private partnership with Miami-Dade County.

▪ Tom Pupo, co-founder and executive director of Moonlighter FabLab, a S.T.E.A.M. Learning Center and Fabrication Lab dedicated to empowering makers