Showcasing your work during Miami Art Week and Art Basel Miami Beach can be an exciting opportunity. Here are some strategies to effectively present your art:

1. Apply to Exhibitions

• Art Basel Applications: Keep an eye on the application process for galleries and exhibitions associated with Art Basel.
• Satellite Fairs: Explore smaller satellite fairs like Scope, Pulse, or NADA, which can be more accessible for emerging artists.

2. Collaborate with Galleries

• Partner with local or international galleries to display your work. Establish relationships with galleries that align with your style.

3. Host a Pop-Up Exhibition

• Organize a pop-up show in a unique venue. Consider collaborating with local businesses or artists to attract more visitors.

4. Utilize Social Media

• Promote your participation through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Use hashtags like #ArtBasel and #MiamiArtWeek to reach a wider audience.

5. Create an Online Portfolio

• Ensure your website is updated with your latest works, artist statement, and contact information. Include a dedicated section for Miami Art Week.

6. Engage with Art Communities

• Attend pre-events and networking sessions. Engage with other artists, curators, and collectors to build connections.

7. Organize an Artist Talk or Workshop

• Hosting a talk or workshop can draw attention to your work and provide an interactive experience for visitors.

8. Leverage Press and Media

• Send press releases to local art publications and blogs to gain media coverage. Consider inviting journalists to your events.

9. Create a Unique Experience

• Think about how to make your exhibit stand out. This could involve interactive elements, performances, or immersive installations.

10. Network with Influencers and Collectors

• Reach out to art influencers and collectors who might be interested in your work. Personal invitations can help create buzz.

Final Tips

• Plan Ahead: Start your preparations well in advance to ensure everything is in place.
• Budget Wisely: Consider the costs of materials, venue rental, marketing, and shipping.
• Stay Authentic: Showcase work that reflects your true artistic voice.

By combining these strategies, you can maximize your visibility during one of the world’s most prestigious art events. Good luck!

Alma Thomas: Color, Light, and the Joy of Being

Alma Thomas, a groundbreaking American artist whose work continues to resonate with power, joy, and innovation:

In the often-serious world of 20th-century modernism, Alma Thomas offered something radically simple: joy.

Her paintings burst with luminous color and rhythmic energy, vibrating with a sense of optimism that was as much spiritual as it was aesthetic. But beyond her dazzling canvases, Thomas’s story is one of quiet revolution—a Black woman, a teacher, and an artist who defied both racial and gender boundaries, and who came into her own not in youth, but in the so-called “twilight” of life.

In doing so, she redefined what it means to be a modern artist—and left a legacy that is still shaping contemporary conversations around abstraction, identity, and resilience.

Early Life: Foundations in Education and Nature

Born in 1891 in Columbus, Georgia, and later moving with her family to Washington, D.C. to escape racial violence, Alma Thomas grew up in a world where Black artistic visibility was almost nonexistent. And yet, her curiosity and creativity were never stifled.

She attended Howard University, where in 1924 she became the first graduate of its newly established fine arts program. She later earned a Master’s degree in art education from Columbia University, all while teaching art at Shaw Junior High School in Washington for over 35 years.

Her long teaching career wasn’t a detour from her art—it was a practice in itself, rooted in nurturing beauty, discipline, and imagination in generations of Black students.

Nature played a deep role in her artistic sensibility. She often described the way light filtered through trees, how leaves danced in the breeze—natural patterns that would later become the very structure of her iconic style.

The Blossoming of an Artist—Later in Life

Remarkably, Thomas didn’t fully dedicate herself to painting until after retiring from teaching at age 69. Most artists are introduced in youth; Alma Thomas arrived with age, wisdom, and purpose.

It was in this later period of life that she developed her signature visual language: radiant, mosaic-like abstractions made of dabs and dashes of color, arranged in rows, spirals, or circles. Her palette was bright and affirming, rejecting the dark emotional tones often associated with high modernism.

She drew inspiration from nature, space exploration, and even music, translating those experiences into color fields that feel like visual meditations on life itself.

Abstraction, Space, and Spirit

Thomas was deeply inspired by NASA and the Space Race of the 1960s. Works like “Starry Night and the Astronauts” (1972) and “Apollo 12 ‘Splash Down’” show how she fused cosmic themes with earthly joy, proving that abstraction can be deeply rooted in both science and spirit.

And though her work was not overtly political, her very existence as a Black female abstractionist in a predominantly white, male art world was a quiet act of rebellion—a refusal to be categorized or diminished.

Her art transcends identity politics but never denies identity. She claimed her space not through confrontation, but through mastery—offering a language of light and harmony that invites everyone in.

Breaking Barriers

In 1972, at age 81, Alma Thomas became the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. That same year, her work was included in the White House collection—a distinction few artists of any background receive.

In a segregated America still struggling to recognize the genius of Black creatives, Thomas’s achievements were extraordinary. But she never allowed recognition to dilute her devotion to the work. For her, painting was a form of prayer, a celebration of life’s beauty—even amidst its harshness.

“Creative art is for all time and is therefore independent of time. It is of all ages, of every land, and if by this we mean that the creative spirit in man is universal, no one kind of art is more valid than another.”

—Alma Thomas

A Lasting Legacy

Alma Thomas passed away in 1978, but her influence continues to grow. In the 21st century, her work has experienced a powerful resurgence, featured in major museum retrospectives and prominent collections.

Artists such as Julie Mehretu, Mickalene Thomas, and Howardena Pindell draw inspiration from Thomas’s defiance of categorization and her commitment to abstraction as a language of possibility.

More than just a painter, Alma Thomas reminds us that it’s never too late to claim your calling—and that even in a fractured world, color, light, and harmony can still be radical.

Final Thoughts

Alma Thomas didn’t chase trends. She didn’t paint her pain for public consumption. She offered something else: a vision of beauty as resistance, of age as emergence, of color as a universal language.

Her work stands as a testament to the enduring power of art to uplift, to transform, and to affirm life. In every brushstroke, Alma Thomas gave us permission to look up, to look inward, and to find joy—not in perfection, but in the rhythm of becoming.

Vasari Project at 25: A Legacy of Art Collections and Collecting in Miami

Miami-Dade Public Library System

101 W Flagler St, Miami, FL 33130

This exhibition celebrates 25 years of The Vasari Project, a living archive that documents Miami-Dade’s visual arts since 1945. Tracing its origins in early library exhibitions, the show highlights donated materials that reflect the city’s evolving artistic landscape and cultural memory. For more information, please contact the branch at 305-375-2665 or [email protected]. All ages.To request services in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) such as materials in accessible format, sign language interpreters, and/or any accommodation to participate in any Miami-Dade Public Library System sponsored program or meeting, please email [email protected] or call Monica Martinez at 305-375-5094 five days in advance to initiate your request. TTY users may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service).

The Miami-Dade Public Library System makes its facilities and meeting rooms available to independent entities, such as community groups or organizations. Hosting such events or programs does not constitute an endorsement or affiliation with the activities of the independent entity or its content. The Library is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by independent entities.

Twenty-five years ago, the Miami-Dade Public Library System created The Vasari Project to document and preserve the vitality of the visual arts in Miami-Dade County dating back to 1945 and beyond. Three visionary women led the initiative: Art Librarian Margarita Cano; Miami Herald art critic, historian, and writer Helen L. Kohen; and Art Librarian and Art Services Manager Barbara N. Young. Together, they collaborated to establish this unique repository in 2000. With funding from the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the invaluable support of Library leadership, The Vasari Project was successfully launched.

Several exhibitions created by the Library’s Art Services Division underscored the need for a dedicated repository to preserve Miami’s art history. Miami Thriving in Change 1940-1990, organized in 1991, was a series of exhibitions that documented 50 years of arts and culture in the community. The exhibit Cultivated Under the Sun, 30 Years of Library Service, 1971-2001, curated by Cano, Kohen, and Young raised awareness of the Library’s art collection and documentation efforts.

The Vasari Project collection safeguards the ever-changing nature of the city’s museums, a decades-long roster of commercial galleries, and the footprints of artists who continue to leave their marks. Contributions to this significant archive — including exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, oral histories, and other mementos — by public institutions, galleries, artists, art professionals, artist collectives, and private donors continue to document the many facets of Miami’s arts scene.

This is the second survey exhibition of materials donated to The Vasari Project since its founding 25 years ago, following Highlights from The Vasari Project Archive of the Miami-Dade Public Library System in 2012. As a living archive, donations are welcome to help fill historical gaps and to continue the legacy of its founders.

Together, we ensure that Miami’s artistic heritage is preserved, celebrated, and shared for generations to come.