Did you know that in between saving our Art Deco Historic District, the founder of MDPL Barbara Baer Capitman was a talented artist as well? Check out our virtual exhibit of drawings & watercolors done by Barbara.
Drawings from the Barbara Baer Capitman Archives.
1988 Art Deco Weekend on 21st Street with band "The Ink Spots" playing
What would Miami Beach be like without Historic Art Deco, Mediterranean, and MiMo buildings?
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Read Time: 3mins Andrew Capitman, son of Miami Design Preservation League leader Barbara Baer Capitman, was a leading Art Deco rehabilitation pioneer in the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1979, he purchased the Cardozo Hotel with a group of enthusiastic investors who believed in the resurgence of the city through the preservation of its past. Mr. Capitman instinctively knew that a 1930s revival would dramatically improve tourism.
Read Time: 2mins In 1984, six hotels underwent major renovations that would mark the second wave of an Art Deco revival in South Beach. According to a Miami Herald article written by Paul Shannon on July 8, 1984, Royale Group Ltd. officials secured a $13.5 million loan to pay for the planned renovation, which included painting and refurbishing in the original Art Deco style.
