{"id":6604,"date":"2017-08-09T21:11:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T21:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifestyle.acqualinaresort.com\/?p=2129"},"modified":"2025-09-26T15:06:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T20:06:20","slug":"the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wynwood Story: Local Artists Make Their Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

White sand beaches and bustling nightlife may define Miami on the surface, but in the last 10 years the city has also garnered a global reputation for creativity.<\/p>\n

At its core, along with high-profile attractions like Art Basel and P\u00e9rez\u00a0Art Museum, is fresh and exploratory street art. The mural-based movement has restored dilapidated city blocks and given life to entire neighborhoods, with the most prominent being Wynwood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt encompasses a couple [of] blocks where everything, everything<\/em>, is covered in art,\u201d says Miami-based artist Tatiana Suarez<\/a>, who began her career in Wynwood and was this year voted Best Street Artist in Miami New Times. \u201cThe floors and the walls are alive with art.\u201d<\/p>\n

To walk through the streets of Wynwood is to immerse yourself in eye-catching compositions, from multi-story murals to diminutive hidden paintings. Home to one of the largest open-air street art installations in the world (along with art galleries, artisanal restaurants, breweries, and boutiques), this eclectic district in the heart of Miami carries an unmistakable identity as one of the country\u2019s most exciting destinations for artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery artist wants to come and leave their mark in Wynwood,\u201d says Suarez, noting that artwork in the district is artwork that is going to be seen. \u201cAll eyes are on Wynwood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Artist

Photo: Martha Cooper<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Her doe-eyed female subjects, often depicted with unsettling accompaniments, can be found throughout the district \u2013 perhaps most recognizably in Wynwood Walls<\/a>, considered by many to be the neighborhood\u2019s focal point. The captivating artworks have been called surreal, sensual, and even creepy, and they have propelled Suarez as a bold presence in the New Contemporary Art scene that is flourishing in Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that juxtaposition of the pretty, delicate girls with the creepy animals,\u201d she says of her work, which is heavily influenced by nature, myths, and legends particularly from her own Brazilian heritage. \u201cI like that they make people a little uneasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Miami, Suarez got her start in Wynwood a decade ago when the neighborhood was still considered a dangerous part of the city. She caught the attention of a gallery curator while showing her work in local restaurants and bars and held her first solo show in the neighborhood. Soon after, she painted her first mural within the walls of the old RC Cola Plant in Wynwood.<\/p>\n

At the time, the district was so far removed from the vibrant center of Miami that most of the people you would spot on the streets were graffiti artists. Once a home for Caribbean immigrants, Wynwood had fallen on hard times economically by the early 2000s. The sidewalks were not considered safe to walk, and walls were marked with graffiti tags rather than fine art.<\/p>\n

\"

Photo: Damien Morrow<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The district\u2019s renaissance came in the form of a partnership between developers and artists. While one group rehabilitated neglected buildings, the other painted the neighborhood in vivid murals. \u201cEvery day you would go, and there would be a new building, a new mural,\u201d says artist Santiago Rubino<\/a>, one of Wynwood\u2019s most influential local muralists. \u201cAnd it\u2019s still the same way now. You always find a new gem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubino\u2019s own artwork highlights the borders between the dream and the real. With rigorous precision and inspiration from nature, animation, and mythology, his figurative portraits captivate the passerby and have appeared in venues around the world from New York to Toronto to Mexico City. (One of his compositions also hangs in a private residence at The Mansions at Acqualina<\/a>.)\u00a0Entirely self-taught, he started asking the city for permission to paint walls and gradually developed his singular style alongside other artists who frequented Wynwood in its early stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cPainting outside is more exciting [than painting in the studio],\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I get to connect with people and interact. It\u2019s a different, exciting experience every time I do a mural outside. The street is very unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Primary Projects<\/a> was one of the first galleries to invite artists from all over the world to paint in Wynwood, and around the same time, Wynwood Walls opened as both a curated outdoor exhibit and an accompanying gallery that featured the studio work of the artists. Nearby, Jose de Diego Middle School underwent an incredible transformation with The Raw Project<\/a>, a volunteer initiative in which more than 80 skilled artists like Rubino covered the school walls in towering murals. It was the first large-scale project of its kind in the country, and the positive impact on the children since then has been undeniable.<\/p>\n

\"Santiago

Photo:\u00a0Santiago Rubino<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI had murals in Wynwood before it became what it is,\u201d says Rubino. \u201cSo for me, it has always been a special place.\u201d But when asked about the appeal of the district today, he speaks about its inherent energy. \u201cAll the artists and curators that have come together to make the place better\u2026 It\u2019s been overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wynwood Walls and the school are actually Rubino\u2019s recommendations for first-time visitors to the district, along with a little bit of wandering on your own. You can find his mural in the Wynwood Doors section immediately next to Suarez\u2019s relatively new mural.<\/p>\n

Last December, Suarez was invited to paint in Wynwood Walls, which resonated with her for many reasons \u2013 one being that her very first mural was right here in Wynwood. Better yet, she became the first local woman to have a piece in Wynwood Walls, joining Rubino as the only locals with artwork currently depicted. \u201cIt makes me proud to be from Miami,\u201d says Suarez, \u201cand to be representing the city in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her, the creative process differs greatly between studio work and painting murals. In the studio, she says, \u201cYou can make mistakes and not worry about it being so large-scale and out there in the world where everyone can see the process.\u201d Whereas with murals such as her piece in Wynwood Walls, time and materials are both of the essence, and the scale of the composition requires more planning \u2013 like a digital sketch on Photoshop to find the right colors in advance and a grid to transfer the image onto the wall. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge,\u201d she adds, \u201cand it makes it feel so much better at the end when it\u2019s finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tatiana

Photo: Martha Cooper<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Because art is covering everything and Wynwood is constantly changing, Suarez tries to be selective in choosing her walls to ensure that her work will stay up for years to come. (\u201cAt times, you can\u2019t tell where one piece starts and one ends.\u201d) One of her older pieces was actually taken over by change when part of the wall was knocked down by developers, leaving only the head of her subject behind. It has since been tagged by graffiti artists, but Suarez finds all of it to be interesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that she\u2019s not completely gone \u2013 the neighborhood is just growing around her,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s so transient, but that\u2019s kind of the beauty of that too. It\u2019s a shapeshifting neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the district continues to grow and space becomes costlier, Suarez suspects that artists will flock to other parts of Miami and ignite similar revitalizations. (Little Haiti is currently experiencing its own artistic movement.) But that doesn\u2019t mean any of them would pass up the chance to paint in one of the most prominent creative communities in the United States.<\/p>\n

\n

O the second Saturday of each month, Wynwood hosts Art Walk<\/a>, an acclaimed festival brimming with art gallery events, cultural experiences, and diverse cuisine from James-Beard-nominated restaurants and dozens of food trucks. The concierge at Acqualina Resort & Spa<\/a> can assist you in planning your visit.<\/p>\n

Featured Photo: Wynwood Walls<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

White sand beaches and bustling nightlife may define Miami on the surface, but in the last 10 years the city has also garnered a global reputation for creativity. At its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":7514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal Miami Artists Make Their Mark - The Wynwood Story | Acqualina Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"White sand beaches and bustling nightlife may define Miami on the surface, but in the last 10 years the city has also garnered a global reputation for creativity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Next Guest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Local Miami Artists Make Their Mark - The Wynwood Story | Acqualina Lifestyle Blog","description":"White sand beaches and bustling nightlife may define Miami on the surface, but in the last 10 years the city has also garnered a global reputation for creativity.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Next Guest","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/","url":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/","name":"Local Miami Artists Make Their Mark - The Wynwood Story | Acqualina Lifestyle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/acqualina.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Wynwood_Walls_Art_Miami.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-09T21:11:01+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-26T20:06:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d873373e95e609ae936b991c1b4d8bd4"},"description":"White sand beaches and bustling nightlife may define Miami on the surface, but in the last 10 years the city has also garnered a global reputation for creativity.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/sports-culture\/the-wynwood-story-local-artists-make-their-mark\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/acqualina.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Wynwood_Walls_Art_Miami.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/acqualina.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Wynwood_Walls_Art_Miami.jpg","width":730,"height":430,"caption":"Wynwood Walls Art Miami"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/","name":"Acqualina Resort","description":"Lifestyle Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d873373e95e609ae936b991c1b4d8bd4","name":"Next Guest","sameAs":["NextGuest"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acqualinaresort.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}