Inside the vibrant district of style, art, and food, expanding Miami’s travel landscape
In just over two decades, the Miami district of Wynwood has been making its own distinctive mark on the city’s wider landscape thanks to a growing arts and lifestyle presence here – and all inside what was once an unknown industrial and warehouse neighborhood. That transformation into a forward-thinking, creative, and small-business community includes a significant number of Afro-American and African-Caribbean entrepreneurs in every sector along the still-developing blocks of the district.
For the seasoned traveler ready to explore the creative edges of greater Miami, Wynwood today offers a distinct experience within a wider region best known for its oceanfront lifestyles. Stretching just westward from the main downtown artery of Biscayne Boulevard, Wynwood’s own boundaries cover some 20 blocks from north to south, stretching from 36th Street at its northern end and extending as far south as 14th Street, and then reaching easternmost from N.E. 2nd Ave. to points at N.W. 6th Ave. These city blocks have become home to enterprises ranging from art institutions, museums, and galleries to individual collections, studios, and alternative spaces, as well as an equally diverse presence in dining, fashion, and entertainment.
Museum worlds – open spaces and immersive interiors
Much of the creative footprint that first emerged around Wynwood literally appeared on the walls of the neighborhood. That wall art has become an enduring feature – and the creation to view nowadays at the landmark enclosure known as the Wynwood Walls (www.thewynwoodwalls.com). The murals on display here reflect a global range of cultural backgrounds and special interests, and include both permanent and visiting artist exhibits and scheduled events – all of which make the Walls a location to keep revisiting. Major ongoing programs here include: Our Artist Family, Featured Artists, and Street Art After Dark.
Along with that external creativity that marks the district, there has been the addition of the internal museum spaces that curate a huge range of art from across the continent and the wider world. Central to explore in this category hereabouts are MOCA at Goldman Warehouse (www.mocanomi.org); The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse (www.margulieswarehouse.com); and the Rubell Family Collection (www.rubellfamilycollection.com). Located within a former Art Deco-period bakery building and providing affordable space for individual artists and their studios/galleries is the Bakehouse Art Complex (www.bacfl.org); and then there is the CIFO Art Space (www.cifo.org), where Latin American art is showcased extensively through both permanent and visiting exhibits. Each of these museums is unique in its design, function, and the content it curates so well.
Gallery and lifestyle collections – diverse identities, engaging legacies
The creative dynamism still emerging in the business sector around this Wynwood District today is diverse and just as surprising. Think for instance of a gallery or space or boutique that offers up a lifestyle interest with an intriguing connection or backstory along the way. Some of these have origins from offshore, some from out of state – but all find a new niche here where their identity works well. Just a few of these that any visitor might consider for this kind of immersive experience:
- Osme Perfumery & Apothecary (www.osmeperfumery.com) – Along with exploring the huge range of scents present at this neighborhood boutique, you might also walk away with a much wider knowledge of the human story behind many of the bottles and displays on the shelves here. Osme Perfumery is the inspiration of owner Maurice Locke, a standout among the emerging entrepreneurism within the District, providing a distinctive doorway into a well-curated lifestyle interest – in this case, the world of scents and perfumes, and how these can serve to connect to a place, event, or figure from the past. A notable example of this, which Locke personally refers to, is the scent known as “Eight & Bob”, which derives from the original scent that the late John F. Kennedy took a liking to while on the French Riviera. That type of provenance in a scent and the doors to other worlds and times it can open is what the visitor to Osme Perfumery can expect to experience when stepping into the doors of this fine boutique.
- Out of Pocket (17 NW 26th St.) – Casual, trending apparel on the rack is one consumer draw here, well complemented by the art presence on the walls. Out of Pocket is a medium-sized gallery space that hosts art exhibits by East Coast entrepreneurs Dante Williams and Travioris Howardton, who have prior retail experience with this type of gallery mix up north. The emphasis at this Wynwood space is very contemporary, urban-centric, and often out-of-the-box and eclectic – aimed at both an aware following of regular local fans and visitors during the nearby annual Art Basel event in the Miami Design District. Expect to see outerwear selections that fit the season – sweats for any time, and lighter wear and tees for summer highs. Occasional musical artist happenings are another key ingredient that contributes to the creative mix here – you may even see some of those performers’ images on the streetwear always present here.
- MuseZeum (www.musezeum.com) – This lively gallery with its well-placed spot on burgeoning NW 2nd Avenue connects the world of art and the trends in wearable fashion – so what you see on the walls might also be visible in the range of casual wear available on the shelves. The faces and images depicted here come from the worlds of music, film, or sport, and the current displays on canvas or clothing, and this access to trending streetwear makes this one of the strong cultural identities and retail models around Wynwood – but also in a price range that fits any pocket. MuseZeum, for instance, is the local space for Grammy award-winning music producer Salaam Remi, previously with such artists as Amy Winehouse, Fugees, Nas, Supa Cat – who developed this intersectional space along one of the district’s most happening streets by drawing on his insight of musical figures. What MuseZeum provides with its own distinctive ingredients is a cultural identity that Remi found absent when he originally surveyed the Art Basel spectrum of earlier times. Nowadays, visitors can still expect to reconnect with music artists here- or even connect for the first time.
Across the wider district, this streetwear-and-art shared space has become a reliable model for both entrepreneurs and visitors – drawing on distinct interests to reach a broader customer base. At the higher price end among these, for instance, is Billionaire Boys Club (www.bbcicecream.com), the local vision of singer Pharrell Williams, which is broad in interior, concept, and price tag. At the same time, exploring Wynwood casually on foot can bring other creative forms into view – thanks to some eye-catching indoor/outdoor exhibition spaces. For instance, the range of art on canvas and powerful sculpture on view at the Gary Nader Art Centre (www.garynader.com), where a recent notable sculpture exhibit featured the giant bronze and iron statuary figures by famed Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero – an imposing visual display along the exterior of the gallery building. Indoors, visitors can also view the large art installation from the region, which reflects Miami’s long connection to the Latin American art world.
Dining, Drinks and Entertainment – with a distinctive District flavor
Vital also to the neighborhood’s commercial innovation, Wynwood’s culinary diversity continues to thrive. Restaurateurs seem well aware of both the local ethnic audience’s appeal and the potential tastes of visitors from near and far, while also infusing their own interpretation into dishes to create an innovative and authentic experience. Within this expanding hub for various food traditions that have also adapted to changing times and regional resources are an interesting range of culinary entrepreneurs, which notably include:
- Dukunoo (www.dukunoowynwood.com) – The culinary inspiration here includes both organic and authentic Jamaican favorites, so the diner can indulge well and go vegan or healthy from a menu selection that includes both classic lunch favorites and then some ital/vegan inspired dishes. The menu includes both longtime island favorites such as their succulent version of “Yardstyle Fried Chicken”, the rich “Curry Chicken”, or sampling the chef’s own ital/vegan “Rastaman Pasta”. or …are just some of the more inventive fusion that the diner can also savor both for roots authenticity and healthful dishes. After-hours light fare and beverage are another popular draw at Dukunoo – with the right ingredients of full bar and bottle service, hookah, and live music by house DJ’s playing Reggae, Soca, Dance Hall and Hip-Hop round the year here.
- Joey’s Italian Café (www.joeyswynwood.com) – The food focus and culinary style is all on the specialties and traditions of the Veneto region of Italy. To that end, the chefs have created a fine-tuned menu of healthy, classic dishes from Veneto and other regions, including daily specials, displayed on a blackboard, which will be produced from fresh, seasonal and sustainable ingredients. “The restaurant’s moderately priced menu is designed to accommodate a wide range of tastes and budgets from the young artsy set to the high rollers who ascend on Wynwood during Art Basel,” notes founder Joey Goldman. Along with all that, the diner can savor the surrounding wall art that reflects the spirit and style of the nearby streets.
High-end stayover with a neighborhood immersion
It makes perfect sense that a formerly ignored backwater would acquire its own distinctive stayover. While Wynwood is only minutes from the many high-end bayside Miami hotels, for those visitors who appreciate the opportunity to explore and savor the wider district over a few days, the ideal stayover for all that and more emerged in just recent years thanks to the appearance of the Arlo Wynwood (www.arlohotels.com/wynwood), With the local concentration of art galleries, openings, and nearby annual art-related large events such as Art Basel, the ease of access that Arlo Wynwood provides is certainly a plus, but along with that it offers up an internal ambiance and activity of its own that contributes something more to the overall guest experience here.
One recent example of that experience-driven dimension at this 217-room boutique hotel was an artist exhibition in its third-floor Living Room Gallery. The three-month installation, titled “Our Shadow Remains” highlighted the work of Afro-Caribbean visual artist Kandy G Lopez, whose pieces often represent marginalized individuals who inspire and move her. The exhibition was the second in the Living Room gallery series – created and curated by Arlo Hotels art curator Jasmine Arakel to bring fine art pieces typically reserved for museums, galleries and private collections into publicly accessible spaces at Arlo Hotels.
Wynwood today is a developing edge of an urban landscape that offers up something unusual, unexpected, and intriguing to explore on its city blocks. Then again, you might run into something that seems familiar from the outside but offers a whole new angle or interpretation once you step inside the door. That combination of imaginative entrepreneurship and a diverse background continues to define this still-emerging district and keeps it an energizing destination for the traveler open to the truly takeaway side of a tropical city. Find your way into Wynwood, and you may find your way into a connection or reconnection that endures in your memories long after you leave.