{"id":11250,"date":"2016-04-04T11:56:20","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T18:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/?p=11250"},"modified":"2016-04-07T06:19:17","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T13:19:17","slug":"ten-years-a-vision-realized-at-the-helm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/ten-years-a-vision-realized-at-the-helm\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ADRIENNE ARSH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/a>

TEN YEARS: A VISION REALIZED AT THE HELM<\/h1>\n

We were intent on the highest goals. We didn\u2019t compromise.\u00a0We created a vibrant arts center that has transformed audiences\u00a0and the neighborhood. <\/i>– Michael Spring, Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. This year the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County celebrates its tenth anniversary.<\/p>\nParker D. Thomson\nZiff Ballet Opera House Interior – photo by Robin Hill\n

One of the world\u2019s largest performing arts centers, it cuts an\u00a0imposing yet aesthetically pleasing figure in Downtown Miami\u00a0along Biscayne Boulevard between N.E. 13th and 14th Streets.\u00a0The world class venue boasts 570,000 square feet with two purpose-built halls, the John S. and James L. Knight Concert\u00a0Hall and the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House. Other\u00a0components of the Center include Carnival Studio Theater, a\u00a0flexible black-box space with seating for up to 300; the\u00a0Parker and Vann Thomson\u00a0Plaza for the Arts, an outdoor\u00a0social and performance space\u00a0linking the two main pavilions\u00a0across Biscayne Boulevard; Carnival Tower, the restored\u00a0Art Deco era Sears tower; the Peacock Education Center, a 3500 square-foot workshop\u00a0and classroom; and artwork\u00a0commissioned by Miami-Dade\u00a0Art in Public Places.\u00a0The Center is located in the\u00a0Omni area, Miami\u2019s old highend shopping district in the 1940s, whose fortunes rose and\u00a0fell until the neighborhood became neglected and abandoned.\u00a0The architectural marvel was the key player in the revitalization\u00a0of this corridor along Biscayne Boulevard. How Miami-Dade County\u2019s public and private sectors succeeded in imagining,\u00a0funding, and building such a game-changing performance hall in a city that some considered a cultural wasteland is a story of vision, resourcefulness, and determination that played out for decades until its opening in 2006.<\/p>\nZiff-Ballet-Opera-House—photo-by-Benjamin-Thacker\n

The Beginning, Many Hands Make Light Work
\n<\/b><\/span>The Center is a catalyst in a depressed economic area.\u00a0You can plan, but the Center has exceeded our best\u00a0hope. <\/i>– Parker D. Thomson, Esq.<\/p>\n

In the years leading up to the creation of the Performing Arts Center, Attorney Parker D. Thomson was involved from\u00a0the outset. The idea of an arts focus for\u00a0the County was being discussed among\u00a0community and civic leaders as early as the\u00a01970s. Mayor Stephen P. Clark of Miami- Dade County tapped Thomson as the first\u00a0chairman of the Arts and Science Council. After two unsuccessful attempts to put an arts center together, the community began\u00a0to focus its efforts on a project that would lead to today\u2019s\u00a0Center. Thomson\u2019s involvement with the Center includes his service as the founding chair for the Performing Arts\u00a0Center Trust (PACT), the non-profit organization that manages the Center.<\/p>\n

Although he claims that when he began he had no prior experience as a fundraiser or project manager Thomson built coalitions and shepherded through key components of the\u00a0project that would lead to its success. He and many others\u00a0realized that the vision of an arts organization capable of\u00a0changing the county\u2019s aesthetic landscape was a powerful\u00a0recruiting tool. That it could also revitalize a dying section of the City of Miami was another magnet for funds and workable\u00a0partnerships. The ability to attract significant public and private\u00a0funding while building strong alliances among politicians and community leaders took hold in the mid-80s and stayed the\u00a0course for over 20 years.<\/p>\nMichael Spring\n

County Cultural Affairs<\/b><\/span>
\nOur aspirations were to become one of the newest and most important performing arts venues. <\/i>– Michael Spring<\/p>\n

Michael Spring came to work for the County in\u00a01983 joining the Cultural Affairs department, and\u00a0subsequently was selected to serve as its director,
\nwhen a vacancy occurred. He played a major role\u00a0in the making of the Center. He points out thathe is proud of the fact that the County was able to \u201csteer the project\u2019s cultural component from the start.\u201d The goal was to create a purpose-built center on par with Lincoln Center in New York and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade County government was a major contributor\u00a0to the project and remains involved today. The Commission\u00a0worked with community leaders, exploring the composition of the building and the location. After an in-depth study, the Commission approved a plan and financing for the Center. The\u00a0decision was made for the County to own the complex and oversee its construction. Soon thereafter the Performing Arts Center Foundation was established drawing membership from\u00a0the performing arts organizations that would be the Center\u2019s\u00a0resident groups. Sherwood M. Weiser was the foundation\u2019s\u00a0chairman who was tasked with raising funds from the private\u00a0sector. In 1991 the Performing Arts Center Trust, a non-profit corporation governed by a volunteer board, was formed to\u00a0oversee planning, design, and construction of the Center as\u00a0well as its management and operation. The Center became the largest public-private partnership in the history of the County.<\/p>\n

Designed From the Inside Out<\/b><\/span>
\nKnight Concert Hall is an acoustically superb space that has\u00a0received solid reviews since our opening in October 2006\u00a0through today. Musical masters from around the world \u2013 from\u00a0Itzhak Perlman to Joshua Bell \u2013 love playing here.\u00a0<\/i>– Suzette Espinosa, VP of Communications at the Center.<\/p>\n

The Center\u2019s interior spaces were the first design concern\u00a0for the County and the members of the Performing Arts\u00a0Center Trust (PACT). The main equirements of a concert hall\u00a0(acoustics) are different from those of a hall dedicated to opera\u00a0and ballet (staging and scenery). Essentially, the architectural\u00a0design would have to incorporate those requirements. After\u00a0an international search and competition, Argentine -American\u00a0architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects was selected\u00a0to design the buildings. The architect and design consultants\u00a0were a part of the team from the beginning of the design\u00a0phase in 1996. Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates was\u00a0the design consultant for theater planning and the acoustician\u00a0consultancy was with ARTEC, Inc., led by the late Russell\u00a0Johnson, architect and acoustical engineer.<\/p>\n

\nM. John Richard was hired as President and CEO of the Arsht Center in 2008. Previously, he was the Executive Vice President and COO at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where he worked for almost 20 years. Both centers were created in locations that had no previous performing arts center. Yet both were successful thanks to the vision and perseverance of community leaders in a grassroots effort. He has played a major role in broadening and deepening the City of Miami\u2019s reputation as a cultural center by fostering programming that reflects the region\u2019s diversity. He strongly believes that featuring local artists is an essential way to demonstrate Miami\u2019s rich culture. In the future, he would like to expand programming for the public schools, with an eye toward the creation of a performing arts school for students from the community.\n

M. John Richard was hired as President and CEO of the Arsht Center in 2008. Previously, he was the Executive Vice President and COO at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where he worked for almost 20 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both centers were created in locations that had no previous performing arts center. Yet both were successful thanks to the vision and perseverance of community leaders in a grassroots effort. He has played a major role in broadening and deepening the City of Miami\u2019s reputation as a cultural center by fostering programming that reflects the region\u2019s diversity. He strongly believes that featuring local artists is an essential way to demonstrate Miami\u2019s rich culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the future, he would like to expand programming for the public schools, with an eye toward the creation of a performing arts school for students from the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Cesar Pelli believes that \u201cbuildings should be responsible\u00a0citizens and that the aesthetic qualities of a building should\u00a0grow from the specific characteristics of each project such as\u00a0its location, its construction technology, and its purpose.\u201d His\u00a0concept for the design of the Center envisioned two separate\u00a0pavilions on either side of Biscayne Boulevard connected by\u00a0a pedestrian footbridge and outdoor plaza. Both pavilions\u00a0are made of a series of stepped masses composed of beige\u00a0Sardinian granite. Large glass and steel curtain walls grace\u00a0the entries and lobbies; they bring in light and create a\u00a0sense of lightness and fragility to the buildings. In the larger\u00a0pavilion is Ziff Hall, designed for opera and ballet seating\u00a02,400 and the black box Carnival Studio Theater, a flexiblespace accommodating up to 300 people. The other, smaller pavilion houses the Knight Concert Hall with 2,200 seats. This hall is designed with an acoustic dome that can be\u00a0raised or lowered, fabric panels and the two- ton doors of the\u00a0reverberation chamber can be opened or closed to change the\u00a0way the sound moves throughout the room. No matter if it is\u00a0a solo violinist, a 50-piece orchestra or a rock concert, all as\u00a0Espinosa said, \u201csound equally magnificent.\u201d\u00a0In October 1997, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust\u00a0commissioned several site-specific art installations to enhance\u00a0the architectural design and add art that reflected the cultural\u00a0diversity of the County. The works include lobby floors and\u00a0railings by Jos\u00e9 Bedia, a large-scale glass tile mural by Cundo Bermudez, outdoor water and seating elements by Anna\u00a0Valentina Murch, an art installation for the Ziff Ballet Opera\u00a0House plaza by Gary Moore, and a proscenium curtain and\u00a0organ scrim designed by Robert Rahway Zakanitch.<\/p>\nJanuary 2006 – An aerial view facing south of the ever-changing Miami skyline withThe Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in the foreground.\n

Land and Funding
\n<\/b>The project never would have gone anywhere if we had to pay\u00a0for the land. Fundraising for the property would have ended our efforts. <\/i>– Parker D. Thomson, Esq.<\/p>\n

The land on which the Center was eventually built was located\u00a0in a blighted, high-crime area of Miami that was to become\u00a0known as the Omni area (Wynwood and Edgewater to the north, Park West and downtown to the south, Overtown to\u00a0the west, and the Bay on the east). Once a high-end shopping\u00a0district boasting major department stores in the decades of\u00a0the late 20s to the 50s, it went into decline. In an effort to\u00a0revive the area, the Omni International Mall was built in 1977.\u00a0\u00a0It replaced many of the existing business and by the 90s, the\u00a0mall too went into decline. The mall closed in 2000 and was\u00a0converted into offices in 2007. Those who worked to make the\u00a0Center a reality understood that an arts center could serve\u00a0as an economic engine and a catalyst for change.\u00a0By distinguishing itself as a city that was seriously committed to fostering an appreciation of the arts, Miami would experience a transformation. The goal was to make Miami\u00a0a mecca for the arts and employing arts venues as a way to bring positive energy to streets that had been abandoned and ignored. That is precisely what the Center achieved.<\/p>\nZiff Ballet Opera House Family Fest March Piano – photo by Robin Hill\n

The site for the Center was chosen by mid-1991 on land that\u00a0was generously donated by Sears, Roebuck & Company and Knight Ridder. The footprint of the project would encompass two square blocks on either side of Biscayne Boulevard between NE 13th and 14th Streets. The heart of downtown\u00a0Miami, the site had access to main highways and public transit.\u00a0Located not too far away were retail, hotel and educational\u00a0developments. There was also a direct view to Government\u00a0Cut in the Bay and the Port of Miami.<\/p>\n

Construction began in 2001, after being approved by the\u00a0Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners. The County\u00a0was the largest contributor of funds for the project and\u00a0is the owner of the Center. The construction contract was\u00a0awarded to Performing Arts Center Builders, a partnership of\u00a0Odebrecht Construction, Inc., The Haskell Company, and\u00a0Ellis Don Corporation. The entire cost for the finished\u00a0project was $473 million.<\/p>\nJohn S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall – photo by Justin Namon\n

In the late 1990s the Center received a substantial gift from\u00a0Ted Arison, the founder and chairman emeritus of Carnival\u00a0Corporation. To honor his generous $10 million donation, one of the Center\u2019s main theaters was named the Carnival Concert\u00a0Hall. Another contribution of $10 million was given by Dr. Sanford L. Ziff, the founder of Sunglass Hut International. His donation was also honored with naming rights to the other main theater, the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House.<\/p>\nZiff Ballet Opera House – photo by Robn Hill\n

In 2006, Carnival Corporation gave a $20 million gift, which resulted in the Center being renamed from the Miami Performing Arts Center to the Carnival Center for the\u00a0Performing Arts. Also in 2006, the John S. and James L.\u00a0Knight Foundation gave $10 million and received naming\u00a0rights for the concert hall, formerly known as the Carnival Concert Hall.<\/p>\n

In 2008 Adrienne Arsht donated $30 million with naming rights for the Center. Ms. Arsht, known for her philanthropy, had a brilliant professional career that included serving as chairman of the Board of TotalBank from 1996 to 2007. During her tenure, the bank grew from four locations to 14 with over $1.4 billion in assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Center is the County\u2019s largest public private-sector\u00a0partnership, comprised of a $150 million private capital campaign conducted by the Performing Arts Center Foundation and public funding drawn primarily from the\u00a0County\u2019s Convention Development Tax revenues, as well as\u00a0the City of Miami Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency.<\/p>\nParker and Vann Thomson\n


\nCultural Diversity: Miami-Dade\u2019s Calling Card<\/b><\/span>
\nOur name Miami resonates as a distinctive worldwide brand.\u00a0Clearly the tapestry of our reputation is the spirit and vitality of our lifestyle. Situated at the entrance to the Americas,\u00a0the Arsht Center is defining a new era of performing arts\u00a0center excellence\u2026 <\/i>– John Richard CEO, Arsht Center, interviewed by Forbes magazine, March 2014.<\/p>\n

The Grand Opening on October 5-8, 2006 was celebrated with everything from pop stars to dignitaries, to fireworks. In its ten-year life, the Center has brought a new cultural paradigm to Miami, raising the city\u2019s reputation in the world and making it a destination for arts and entertainment that\u00a0reflects the County\u2019s cultural diversity. From classical music\u00a0to jazz, Broadway shows to the annual Flamenco Festival, and\u00a0ballet to aerial acrobatics, the Center is a model for the way\u00a0arts centers will succeed in the future. Miami is one of the\u00a0country\u2019s most culturally diverse cities in the nation.\u00a0Miami prefigures the demographic changes that will one day\u00a0be true of many areas of the country.<\/p>\n

As a cultural magnet, the Center offers a wide range of diverse programming that mirrors the community. Unique programs such as Jazz Roots, a six-part concert series that originated in Miami has expanded to five other cities; Theater Up Close, a showcase of theatrical work features world premieres, local actors, and is home to Miami\u2019s own Zoetic Stage; and Flamenco Festival, the only annual major Flamenco Festival\u00a0in the country bringing the best performers directly from Spain. In addition to performances by its resident companies,\u00a0the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and New World\u00a0Symphony, an annual residence by the Cleveland Orchestra is also a part of the Center\u2019s artistic tapestry.<\/p>\nParker and Vann Thomson Plaza – photo by Robin Hill\n

Educating youth is another focus of the Center. In May 2010 the launch of Learning Through the Arts program began. It provides live music, theater, and dance experiences to county youth, free of charge via the public school system\u2019s Passport to Culture initiative. The Center is at the heart of arts John S. education in Miami-Dade. Students and teachers participate in behind-the-scenes\u00a0workshops, master classes, and inclusive activities that enhance learning\u00a0process through the performing arts. The Center serves 30,000 children\u00a0annually in its programs.<\/p>\n

Town Square Neighborhood Development and the Future<\/b><\/span>
\nIn 2011 the Town Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (\u201cTSNDC\u201d) was\u00a0formed. It is a is a nonprofit and independent entity that oversees the development\u00a0of Miami\u2019s emerging Arsht Center neighborhood to build on the Center\u2019s role as a\u00a0catalyst for change in helping to create Miami\u2019s cultural and entertainment center.\u00a0TSNDC selected Cesar Pelli, the architect of the Center, to create a master\u00a0plan for the development of the Arsht Center District. By working with the\u00a0community TSNDC plans to have an active role in overseeing the development\u00a0and redevelopment of the district; addressing future Arsht Center expansion\u00a0needs; and supporting the Arsht Center as a catalyst to improve the livability\u00a0of the surrounding urban neighborhoods through cultural programming and entrepreneurial business ventures.<\/p>\n

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is located at 1300 Biscayne\u00a0Boulevard Miami, Florida, for more information regarding scheduling and tickets,\u00a0please visit or telephone at 786-468-2000.<\/p>\n

\n

I want to congratulate the Arsht Center and its President and CEO John Richard on ten incredible years of bringing arts and culture to Miami-Dade\u2019s millions of residents and visitors. The Arsht Center is one of our nation\u2019s great performing arts centers, and I applaud the Center\u2019s dedicated staff and volunteers for attracting outstanding artists and performances from around the globe to our world-class community. <\/i>– Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

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TEN YEARS: A VISION REALIZED AT THE HELM We were intent on the highest goals. We didn\u2019t compromise.\u00a0We created a vibrant arts center that has transformed audiences\u00a0and the neighborhood. – Michael Spring, Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. This year the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County celebrates<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197,1,148],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}