Barbara Baer Capitman Memorial

The Barbara Capitman Memorial was dedicated during Art Deco Weekend 2016 on January 16th.

After five years of planning, permitting and fund-raising, MDPL’s memorial to its founder,  Barbara Baer Capitman (1920-1990) was completed in time for a public dedication at Art Deco Weekend 2016. We believe that Barbara Baer Capitman made an enormous contribution to the quality of life in South Florida in founding our organization, the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976 and leading the battle to protect and preserve the Art Deco District. Miami’s cultural development and tourism revival of the last decades flowed from her vision and efforts. Her efforts spurred a national and international movement for the preservation of 20th century design and architecture.

The BBC Memorial features a bronze bust from a sculpture of Capitman by her mother, the artist Myrtle Bachrach Baer, completed in 1939 when Barbara was 19. Designed by ArquitectonicaGeo, the memorial is set in Lummus Park at 13th Street across Ocean Drive from the Cardozo Hotel, the Art Deco District’s first restored hotel and an early center for MDPL’s preservation efforts. Funding for the Capitman Memorial has come from around 30 institutions and individuals including substantial contributions from The Knight Foundation, The Miami Beach Visitor & Convention Authority, the Gloria & Emilio Estefan Foundation, and the Greenburg Traurig Foundation.