The City of Miami Beach, in collaboration with the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA), is announcing the 2024 edition of No Vacancy, Miami Beach – which launches on Thursday.
No Vacancy is a juried art competition that supports and celebrates mainly local artists, provokes critical discourse, and encourages the public to experience Miami Beach’s famed hotels as temporary art destinations in their own right. No Vacancy 2024 marks the program’s fifth edition presenting 12 artists creating site-specific works at 12 iconic Miami Beach hotels. The installations will be on view from November 14 through December 12, 2024.
Each selected artist or collective will receive a stipend of $10,000 to realize their project at each hotel location. Artists were drawn from a call for submissions issued by the city and selected by representatives from the City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Committee, Cultural Arts Council (CAC) and MBVCA.
For the fifth edition of No Vacancy, $35,000 in prizes will be awarded to two selected participants, featuring a $10,000 Public Prize by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and a $25,000 Juried Prize awarded by a jury of local art professionals.
Above: MDPL-Produced Video highlighting 2023 No Vacancy Program
No Vacancy coincides with Art Week Miami Beach, which will take place from November 14th through December 12th. It is the perfect occasion to join in and celebrate Miami Beach’s vibrant arts, culture, and architecture scene.
MDPL Executive Director Daniel Ciraldo comments, “The No Vacancy program is a cultural highlight of the year. It is a great way to see the Art Deco, Mediterranean, and MiMo landmarks of the city highlighted with contemporary installations by mostly local artists – at a time when all eyes will be on Miami Beach.”
Ready for this year’s edition? Here is a preview of the 12 artists and their works being featured at this year’s competition:
"Untitled (Objects, landscapes and things. At the still point of mottled formations and a scruple of compassion)"
Adler Guerrier
📍Kimpton Surfcomber, 1717 Collins Avenue
Architect: MacKay and Gibbs
Artist Adler Guerrier’s ”Untitled (objects, landscape, and things. At the still point of mottled formations and a scruple of compassion)” presents a network of images, places and haunts as the broad errant reaches of here. The work builds on relations to the ways we shape public space, embellish the lived environment within various abstractions, botanicals and sentiments while insisting on expanded views of the commons.
"Aquatic Incursion-MHEDRAYNGT"
Asser St. Val
📍International Inn on the Bay, 2301 Normandy Drive
Architect: Melvin Grossman
Artist Asser Saint-Val’s “Aquatic Incursion-MHEDRAYNGT” is a series of amorphous air sculptural installations that integrate into the architecture of South Beach. These organic, sea life-inspired structures create a surreal, otherworldly aesthetic that contrasts with the iconic art deco buildings of the city. The sculptures appear to invade the familiar built environment, generating a captivating interplay between manmade and the sea. The organic forms of the sculptures are inspired by the ongoing discourse around sea level rise and the encroachment of sea life into urban spaces. The underwater quality of these sculptural installations are designed to evoke a sense of wonder prompting viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between human activities as the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
"Untitled (Dodecagon Drawing Grid), 2024"
Dennis Scholl
📍Hotel Croydon, 3720 Collins Avenue
Architect: Dean Parmalee
Artist Dennis Scholl’s work “Untitled (Dodecagon Drawing Grid), 2024” comes across as an obsessive drawing practice. Scholl is interested in the dodecagon 12-sided figure and uses it as an organizing principle in his practice. This presentation consists of up to 100 unique dodecagon drawings shown in a grid. The dodecagon reminds us of the hours on a clock, months in a year or signs of the zodiac — in essence the passage of time.
"Moving Interlude."
GeoVanna Gonzalez
📍 Kimpton Palomar Hotel, 1750 Alton Road
Architect: Kobi Karp
Artist GeoVanna Gonzalez presents “Moving Interlude.” Inspired by the theories of sociologist Henri Lefebvre, Gonzalez’s work investigates the intersection of urban design, cultural values and spatial justice. Gonzalez explores how elements of urban architecture can inadvertently perpetuate social inequalities through exclusionary designs, such as antisocial architecture, which subtly controls behavior and restricts movement.
"Florida Boys"
Josh Aronson
📍The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, 1732 Collins Avenue
Architect: Morris Lapidus
Artist Josh Aronson presents the site specific installation, “Florida Boys,” featuring the photograph “Spring “(2023–2024). The translucent fabric allows daylight to pass through, transforming the photograph into a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. As air circulates in the lobby, the suspended artwork gently moves, creating a living, evolving presence that shifts with the changing light throughout the day. “Spring” depicts a serene moment of young men floating in a Florida spring, a scene that speaks to themes of unity, tranquility, and the expansive nature of modern masculinity. Set in Miami Beach, the installation resonates with the city’s unique convergence of natural beauty and urban vibrancy, while also nodding to its legacy as a haven for queer culture. The subtle interaction of the photograph with its environment invites viewers into a contemplative space, echoing the rhythmic pace of the city while offering moments of quiet reflection and connection.
"— .. .- .– -..- (MIA WX)"
Julia Zurilla
📍Avalon Hotel, 700 Ocean Drive
Architect: Albert Anis
Miami Artist Julia Zurilla presents — .. .- .– -..- (MIA WX), a multimedia project that combines experimental videos and circular photographs, juxtaposing images from past and present that explore nostalgia and contemporary environmental realities. The installation layout is arranged in Morse code, a visual system composed of dashes, dots and spaces that is also known as “the lifesaving language.” This project reflects both the urgency of climate communication and the adaptability of the installation, allowing any word associated with the project’s theme to be expressed and tailored to various spaces.
"Reflections of Florida Wild"
Magnus Sodamin
📍Faena Hotel, 3201 Collins Avenue
Architect: Roy F. France
Artist Magnus Sodamin’s “Reflections of Florida Wild” offers lush, nature-inspired treatment that explores changing global narratives through spiritual inquiry and spontaneous creativity. Sodamin’s process is cathartic and vigorous, resulting in work that reflects the beauty of the natural world while exploring the states of climate and environment. His vibrant works are full of energetic gestures that are both joyful and turbulent, indicative of the artist’s passionate sense of awe and quiet reverence for nature.
"Rhapsody for a Beloved World"
Marielle Plaisir
📍Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club, 3925 Collins Avenue
Architect: Roy F. France
Artist Marielle Plaisir presents “Rhapsody for a Beloved World.” Through a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach, Plaisir strives to resist harmful histories and offers hope for a better future. Plaisir draws attention to the interconnections between humans, the universality of fractured identities and the power of recognizing and describing inner worlds. Plaisir’s socially engaged works transcend temporal and cultural boundaries, serving as visual meditations on the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. The color-drenched collage features elaborate compositions of elements, combining intricate botanical images of lush foliage with salvaged vintage black and white photographs as well as elements of landscape paintings.
"Anodyne"
Patricia L. Cooke
📍Sherry Frontenac Hotel, 6565 Collins Avenue
Architect: Henry Hohauser
Artist Patricia Cooke’s “Anodyne” praises the healing power of South Florida’s mangrove systems. Mangroves are a crucial facet of the South Florida landscape. Their complicated root systems provide filtration and distribution for both fresh and saltwater, as well as acting as attachment sites to marine organisms that filter water with their bodies — a double source of healing. The quilts of “Anodyne” strive to recreate the unique view of both roots disappearing under the water’s surface and the menagerie tangle of the roots themselves. The use of calming pastel colors supports a similar calming experience of kayaking or canoeing through the mangroves, offering a sense of tranquility knowing that these ancient trees are hard at work protecting and healing our world.
"YOU ARE HERE," Philip Lique
📍Royal Palm South Beach, 1545 Collins Avenue
Architect: Donald G Smith
Artist Philip Lique, presents “YOU ARE HERE,” an interactive installation that serves as an homage to the commonly seen wayfinding maps in public spaces. The work offers a chance to recalibrate one’s own spatial and contemplative awareness. The artist aims to engage hotel guests through design, sculpture and cultural programming by intervening in an often overlooked architectural element — the floor. “YOU ARE HERE” reassigns the lobby’s purpose — offering a scale shift for guests to consider as they orient themselves within either a single building, city block, Miami Beach and beyond.
"Soft Squeeze," We Are Nice’n Easy
📍Esmé Miami Beach, 1438 Washington Avenue
Architect: Robert A. Taylor
Artist collaborative We Are Nice’n Easy’s “Soft Squeeze” represents a site-specific artwork rooted in the dynamic interplay between nature and culture inherent to South Florida. With a focus on public projects within its practice, Nice’n Easy believes in the transformative power of public art and works to elevate Miami’s cultural identity. This playful creation, however seemingly compressed, creates a visual tension that highlights the clash and fusion of natural and cultural elements. As viewers move around and underneath the artwork, the recognizable shapes shift and merge, creating an ever-evolving visual narrative that reflects the fluidity and complexity of Miami’s subtropical environment. This work not only captures the playful spirit of Miami Beach but also prompts deeper reflection on how cultural artifacts and natural habitats coexist and influence one another.
"Faux Ecologies + Augmented Visions of the Micro-verse," [dNASAb]
📍The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive
Architect: L. Murray Dixon
Artist [dNASAb] presents “Faux Ecologies + Augmented Visions of the Micro-verse,” an AI-assisted film that dives into the unseen world of microplastics and microorganisms and explores their hidden interactions. This installation transforms the spherical form of the structure into a dynamic, translucent water droplet, revealing an intricate, fictional ecosystem at a microscopic scale. “Faux Ecologies + Augmented Visions of the Micro-verse” serves as both a meditation on the fragility of our environment and an experimental use of cutting-edge technology to bring new dimensions of environmental storytelling to life.
These works will be on view from Nov 14 to Dec 12 at their corresponding locations.
Artists were drawn from a call for submissions issued by the city and selected by representatives from the City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Committee, Cultural Arts Council (CAC), and MBVCA.
The winner of the Juried Prize and the winner of the Public Prize will be announced on December 12, 2024.
