Reasonable artwork

We%26#39;ll be in South Beach for 36 hours (Sat.night to Monday am in August). I live near Fort Worth and when shopping here for anything other than traditional, I get weird looks. Anyway, I%26#39;d absolutely LOVE to find a modern painting or wall art of some kind to purchase and ship back home. I don%26#39;t have a fortune to spend, but would love to shop in SB.

Recommendations?

Reasonable artwork

Hi Mary without a Name,

There is a very cool art gallery on Ocean Drive that has very vivid color paintings (you know it when you see it). Ocean Drive isn%26#39;t that long so you%26#39;ll see it as you walk. I recall it%26#39;s on the more north end of Ocean Drive.

There are also several very cool galleries on Lincoln Road. Lincoln Road is but a short walk from Ocean Drive.

Sorry I don%26#39;t know the name or exact address of these places but if you walk Ocean Drive (which has shops/restaurants/etc only on one side) and then up and down Lincoln, it will take you less than an hour without stops so the distance isn%26#39;t that far and you see several interesting places to check out. Now that I think about it, there is also a store with non-traditional stuff on Collins between 17th and Lincoln Road.

I have NO idea on prices. Some of the stuff looked pretty expensive but I%26#39;m sure there is some stuff that won%26#39;t cost as much as your airplane tickets.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!

Reasonable artwork

Mary%26gt;

Living in Miami, it%26#39;s impossible not to get caught up in the art scene.

The city is literally changing right before our eyes right now as developers like Donald Trump have purchased huge parcels of land and moved in the bulldozers to push away all the original ';charming'; landscape to build huge (and hugely boring) high rise hotels and condos.

Even on Trip Advisor, the reviews of travel experiences at these mega-resorts is starting to sound all the same.

Lincoln Mall on South Beach used to have a number of independent art galleries. Now it is filled with some of the same shops and Starbucks you%26#39;ll find in Texas. However, the original Art Center is hanging in there and could use your support.

International artists (as well as a few kids from the neighborhood) are living and working on South Beach and have a little studio and gallery space right on the Mall. They teach classes and participate in open gallery nights at the center so folks like you can walk in and wander around and see them creating their stuff on site.

At the corner of Lincoln Mall and Meridian, you can literally pop inside and see them drawing and painting and teaching and discussing their art, day and night. I think it%26#39;s even more interesting to buy a piece of art when you have an opportunity to meet the artist, talk about what you find appealing in the work and then take home something truly meaningful from your vacation experience.

Beats the heck out of an ';I GoT nUtZ on SoUth BEacH'; t-shirt!!!

Follow this link:

http://www.artcentersf.org/

';Established in 1984, ArtCenter/South Florida (located at 800, 810 and 924 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach) is a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization that provides subsidized studio and exhibition space as well as teaching opportunities for emerging and career artists in their facilities at 800, 810 and 924 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach.

The mission of the ArtCenter is to advance the knowledge and practice of contemporary visual arts and culture in South Florida while providing affordable programming and work-space for professional artists. The ArtCenter/South Florida is open Monday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.

For further information please call (305) 674- 8278 or visit the website at www.artcentersf.org. ';

I hope you find something wonderful to take back home with you!!

AG

Thank you Fan and Girl -

That does help me alot. Sounds like perfect places. I try to support the university kids in our area, but sometimes they can be a bit flighty. The places you mentioned sound like they could custom a piece or whatever. Gotta love starving artists!

Who knows, that place on our LR wall that has been blank for 3 years might get a taste of SB - hope so!

Anyway, thanks again - I%26#39;m getting more and more interested and informed about your hip city everyday reading your posts. Still haven%26#39;t committed to a hotel, but gotta do that pretty soon (trip is Aug. 12-14 on our way to Turks and Caicos - woohoo!). Will NOT be doing a mega hotel -

will find a CLEAN place to rest our heads for a few hours under $200 a night.

have a terrific Thursday - Mary