
This year has posed many challenges for in-person artistic events. Nevertheless students, alumni and faculty from FIU CARTA have been successful in their efforts to position the university at the forefront of the creative community.
Miami Art Week is still set to take place in a different, fractured, multifaceted format. Although the main feature of this annual Miami event has been cancelled, certain galleries, museums and arts organizations are still set to offer an adapted, sometime virtual, cultural experience to Miami arts lovers.
View how CARTA has contributed to the global art scene and how they will participate in Miami Art Week 2020, which is taking place Nov. 30- Dec. 6.
Spotlights
- FIU Online commissions alumna for ‘Beautifully Miami’ artwork
- Alumna makes her mark on the film and entertainment industry
- Art history professor Joy Lidu Yi unearths Buddhist art and silk road mysteries
- Three CARTA alumni selected for competitive art summer residency
- Amidst these unprecedented times, assistant professor of drawing is “making her way”
- The art of serenity: landscape paintings to calm our souls
- Alumnus Nathan Delinois’ mural featured in NBC documentary “Miami Muralists Flighting for Black Lives Through Their Art”
- CARTA student gives second-hand clothing new life
Awards
- FIU’s Academy of Portrait and Figurative Art recognized by National Society of Arts and Letters (NSAL) and the N.W. Winston Scholarship Board as one of top 30 recommended places to study portrait and figurative art in the country
- Three CARTA faculty members honored as 2019-2020 Top Scholars
- Lidu Yi | Research Art + Art History Associate Professor,
- Women in The Visual Arts (WITVA) Grant Awards:
- MFA student Wendy Ordonez, first place – $3500
- MFA student Brandi Long, third place – $2,250
- Winner of Betty Perry Purchase Award, Frost Art Museum
- BFA student Tori Scott
- Winner of Florida Secondary Art Educator of the Year Award
- MS student Julie Orsini Shakher
- Winner of Florida STAR Artist Residency
- MS alumna Lucia Morales
- Winner of Florida Special Needs Art Educator of the Year Award
- MS alumna Rachel Silver
- Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs’ Creative Grant Recipient
- Jennifer Printz, Assistant Professor of Drawing
- 2020 Faculty and Alumni Oolite Arts Ellies Awards:
- Tom Scicluna, assistant professor of sculpture – Creator Award Winner ($9,000)
- Pepe Mar, MFA alumnus – Creator Award Winner ($12,000)
- Itzel Basualdo, BFA alumna – Creator Award Winner ($10,000)
- Charo Oquet, BFA alumna – Creator Award Winner ($9,000)
- Zahra Farooq, MAT in Art Education alumna – Teacher Travel Grant Winner ($5000)
Event Calendar
Nov. 1

Jessica Gispert and Crystal Pearl Molinary “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration
Alumnae Jessica Gispert ‘07 and Crystal Pearl Molinary ‘06 are featured in the virtual exhibition, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” at the Museum of Modern Art PSI in Queens, New York. “Marking Time” explores the work of artists within US prisons and the centrality of incarceration to contemporary art and culture and features art made by people in prisons and work by nonincarcerated artists concerned with state repression, erasure and imprisonment.
On view from Nov. 1 to April 2021
Nov. 2

“Touch from Above” by Gianna DiBartolomeo
On display near gate D31 at Miami International Airport through July 2021, “Touch from Above” is a series inspired by random acts of kindness. The new exhibition features 11 thickly layered, labor-intensive, abstract paintings by alumna Gianna DiBartolomeo BFA ’07, MFA ’19, each brimming with vibrant swirls of color. The works’ rippled sculptural elements resemble swirls of decorated baked goods, as if they were overhead shots of the world where each dollop of frosting represents an act of kindness.
On view from Nov. 2 to July 2021
Nov. 29

“Dreaming with Lions” Faena Art
School of Architecture alumni Kevin Arrieta, Nicolas Vazquez and Julian Ramirez’s creative studio VACO Studio cover the monumental site-specific installation “Dreaming with Lions” by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea. Erected directly on the beach in front of Faena Hotel for Miami Art Week’s Faena Art exhibition, “Dreaming with Lions” is an existential work, while also serving as a living monument to the sheer force of the human spirit. The artwork in itself tries to reconstruct the symbols: hope, faith and strength of the human spirit that in the face of the moral challenges we are confronted with today, still prevail.
On view from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6
Nov. 30

MBUS Live Art Talk with Nneka Jones
Tampa-based embroidery artist Nneka Jones shares what it was like growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, her current work and how she uses her art to speak out against social injustices in an MBUS Live Art Talk with Colette Mello, curator and senior special events manager for CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studios (MBUS).
Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m.
Dec. 1

“Zen and the Art of 70’s and 80’s London”
Legendary British 70’s photographer Karl Stoecker and famed collector Keni Valenti discuss art and inspiration in London during the 70’s and 80’s as part of this week’s “Zen and the Art of…” series hosted by The Betsy Hotel and CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studios.
Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m.

“Born of the 305: Beautifully Miami” by Gianna Bartolomeo
FIU Online commissioned alumna Gianna DiBartolomeo BFA ‘07, MFA ‘19 for “Beautifully Miami” artwork. Housed in CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studios, DiBartolomeo’s piece features 2,800 individual cafecito cups to create a pixel art installation that celebrates FIU, online learning and the beauty and diversity of the local Miami community.

“In the Sticks” by Linda Chamorro and Felice Grodin
School of Architecture faculty members Linda Chamorro and Felice Grodin’s collaborative art installation, “In the Sticks” is featured in AIM Biennial – a project which features new site-specific installations throughout South Florida, created by local cultural practitioners. “In the Sticks” utilizes one of Grodin’s previous works and recontextualizes it outside the domain of an art gallery and into a rural setting in order to interrogate the perceived separate spheres of cultural spaces, agricultural spaces and ecological spaces.
On view from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31

“On the avenue: Miami Art Week”
FIU’s three South Beach art outposts, The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach Urban Studios (MBUS) and the Jewish Museum of Florida (JMOF) are bringing you behind the scenes of what’s coming soon to Washington Avenue with this remote preview. The preview shares teasers for upcoming exhibitions and installations and brains of our four cultural hosts: Wolfsonian chief curator Silvia Barisione, artist Leandra Arvazzetti, MBUS curator and special events manager Colette Mello and JMOF curator Jacqueline Goldstein.
Dec. 1 at 5:00 p.m.

Prizm Art Fair 2020
Prizm Art Fair, founded and directed by alumnus Mikhaile Soloman M.Arch ‘11, returns this year for its eighth edition with a virtual exhibition entitled “Noir, Noir: Meditations on African Cinema and Its Influence on Visual Art” curated and organized by William Cordova, and Solomon. “Noir Noir…” revisits and contemplates the layered rendering of complex communal histories through the lens of African/Diasporic filmmakers past and present, seeking a deeper understanding of global African identity through an evaluation of its intersections with contemporary visual art.
On view from Dec. 1 – Dec. 21

“Resurfacing: Emerging from the Storm” by Leandra Arvazzetti
Alumna Leandra Arvazzetti MFA ‘15 hosts her virtual exhibition “Resurfacing: Emerging from the Storm” at CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studios’ (MBUS) virtual gallery. Arvazzetti’s practice explores the physical manifestation of the ephemeral through fiber-based sculpture and installation. Her materials reference identity through topics of industry, labor, family, and cultural heritage.
On view from Dec. 1 – Dec. 30

“Tesoro: Pepe Mar’s Love Letter to the Frost” by Pepe Mar
Alumnus Pepe Mar, MFA ’12 has created an installation drawn from the Frost Art Museum’s collection, entitled “Tesoro: Pepe Mar’s Love Letter to the Frost”. In this exhibition, Mar envisions the Museum’s permanent collection of art from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe, as special treasures and presents them as gifts to the public.
Dec. 2

“Teacher Talks” with Michael Klotz
FIU School of Music faculty member Michael Klotz kicks off his interview series “Teacher Talks” with Elmar Oliveira, internationally acclaimed violinist, prolific recording artist and Distinguished Artist in Residence at Lynn University’s Conservatory of Music.
Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The CAMP @ PINTA Miami
Dec. 3

“Exposed to our Methods of Being” by Jennifer Printz
Faculty member from the Department of Art + Art History Jennifer Printz hosts her virtual exhibition “Exposed to our Methods of Being” at CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studios’ (MBUS) virtual gallery. Printz uses both photography and drawing as differing means to observe her world and unifies them together to make poetic works that reflect the unseen structures of the universe.
On view from Dec. 3 – Jan. 9, 2021
Dec. 4

Alumnus Nathan Delinois “Nate Dee” featured in DISPERSED Art Exhibition
The Dispersed art exhibition by Miami Urban Contemporary Experience (MUCE) invites art lovers to dive into a mythological journey to the center of the universe where Black Gods (Orishas), mermaids and the ancestors await their return. An artistic reverence to the lost souls at sea and the strange fruit of poplar trees, this exhibit is an astounding celebration of Black excellence and resilience.
Dec. 3 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Public virtual concert: Misty Shore Duo
Join CARTA for a public virtual concert with Misty Shore Duo on Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. featuring music by Orlando Garcia, Chen Hui Jen, Jacob Sudol and more.
Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Ongoing Exhibitions
- BFA Thesis Exhibition, MBUS Gallery (Nov. 2020 – Dec. 2020)
- Master of Art Education Exhibition, Frost Art Museum (Dec. 2020 – Jan 2021)
Our role in Miami Art Week
Supporting world-class programs
CARTA is home to a number of leading-edge academic and creative activities that prepare our graduates to use the power of communication, architecture and the arts to advance culture, build community and address the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.
Engaging our community
CARTA is located in Miami, Miami Beach, New York City and Washington, DC, four of the nation’s most vibrant, diverse and creative cities. As a strategic community partner, CARTA produces talent that strengthens our nation’s economic and cultural development and positions Miami as an international epicenter for architecture, art, design and culture