FROM TOP: ROBIN HILL, TIMOTHY SCHENCK. OPPOSITE: ANTON KIRINDONGO
Wall mural in Miami’s Design District titled “Vortex” by 2x4. Wall mural on the High Line in New York City titled “I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door” by Dorothy Iannone. OPPOSITE:
Mural by EL MAC on the exterior of Wynwood 25.
WINTER 2019
FROM TOP:
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“As a company, we don’t want to have blank walls,” says Jon Paul Perez, executive vice president of the Related Group, a developer whose signature is incorporating art into its buildings. “Art adds character.” Artist Markus Linnenbrink’s colorful painted stripes seem to drip off a facade of Miami’s SLS Lux Hotel and Residences. At X Miami Apartments, a 464-unit multi-family social community, fantastical artwork covers the garage, and Crayola-colored art walls punctuate an 18th-f loor dog park. Murals mix with sculpture and architecture in the Design District, adding “an accessible entry point to discovering contemporary art,” says the neighborhood’s director of cultural programming, Tiffany Chestler, who oversees its art. In Philadelphia, train, car, and walking tours explore the Mural Mile routes, part of the nonprofit Mural Arts Program that’s transforming neglected neighborhoods. Some of Manhattan’s best street art is downtown. Art permeates the High Line, an elevated public park with walk-through gardens built on a historic freight line. Murals and sculptures draw in the surrounding urban neighborhood, including contemporary works by emerging to long-established national and international artists. But street art can be ephemeral. In anticipation of Art Basel Miami Beach, each December 60 to 70 percent of Wynwood’s murals are changed. Not to worry, Garcia insists: “On Instagram, these murals live forever.” ■
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the walls, the canvases were so large, nothing like that was ever contemplated or visible before.” A rezoning four years ago required a percentage of the facade of each building to “be saved for art. There has to be a true artistic component that is meaningful and impactful,” Garcia says, with private property, owners, and developers contributing to the “artistic dialogue.” Though the art is on private property, it’s meant to be enjoyed by the public. Intriguing murals at Wynwood 25, a new 285-unit apartment and mixed-use development, draw selfie-snapping visitors to check out the rental complex, complete with rooftop pool, art-infused community rooms, and a courtyard with a towering, colorful mural.
