246 in the last three years alone. mark on the neighborhood 300 artists have left their for Wynwood Walls. Over Scharf putting up his mural street artist Kenny

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PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTHA BY TK; ILLUSTRATION COOPER BY TK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TK; ILLUSTRATION BY TK painted most coveted of estate real in tracts America, and what for and means itAmerica, all propelled aforgotten industrial swath into ofone of the the neighborhood’s future. The untoldThe of story how City BY KEARNEY BILL

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247 t the moment, Wynwood is an lost businessmen metamorphosing into larvae. all of Wynwood’s street art, says over 300 artists according to Tony Cho, president and own the building, and the two teamed up unlikely, and therefore exciting, Turn down any street and you’re likely to be have created here in the past three years. During CEO of Metro 1 Properties. And it’s all and completed the Haring project. The mélange. The line out the door wowed. In a month, the images might be replaced the six days of Art Basel Miami Beach 2013, because of the paint. If the stakeholders passion of the public response was not at Panther Coffee, once the by new ones. Welcome to Wynwood, 2014. And 50,000 people came to visit Wynwood Walls, handle the change thoughtfully, what is lost on Goldman. He would later write dominion of the young, scruffy this place is about to change even more— Goldman Properties’ mural park. now wonderful might just continue to be. that the Wynwood concept came to him hip, is studded with property JugoFresh has moved in, Ralph Pucci furniture It’s not just street art that’s blossomed. Property Graffiti is normally considered as a 4 AM vision—“Wynwood’s large stock ABOVE: Miami property developer Tony Goldman had the vision prospectors in slacks. Ducati is opening a store up vandalism by landowners. Artists are of warehouse buildings, all with no A for Wynwood Walls back in 2008; TOP: Wall Street Labyrinth the street. Two new condos are slated to break arrested, sometimes tragically, as with by the Spanish artist Liqen. windows, would be my giant canvases to ground half a block west, yet there’s a clutch of During the six days of Art Basel the death last year of Israel Hernandez- create and display the greatest street art feral chickens in a side lot. The neighborhood is so Llach (aka Reefa), who died after being struck Wynwood. “What it had was pedestrian ever seen in one place.” Goldman Properties hot website ran a video on Miami Beach 2013, with a stun gun by Miami Beach police. Yet in potential, great light, and the setting for an arts would use the 18 walls just up the block from Joey’s Wynwood style. You wouldn’t have recognized it Wynwood, landowners cultivate artists, and district,” he wrote in The Wynwood Walls and Italian Café, which they had opened that year, as a from how it was six years ago. At that time, it was a artists ask permission to work. How did the hood Doors book. “I love revitalizing run-down, starting point. Goldman asked Deitch, who had desolate, mostly drab, and sometimes dangerous 50,000 people came to visit become a freewheeling outdoor museum where abandoned historic communities! That’s what an expertise in street art, to partner as a curator. warehouse district outlined by working-class everyone seems to get along? If forced to hang it turns me on!” Goldman would offer air fair, a hotel, and supplies housing. I worked in the area, and it was hard to Goldman Properties’ mural park. on one name, that name would be Tony After buying in the area, Goldman was to the artists, and give them an outsized wall to find a sandwich, or even anyone to say hello to. I Goldman, who passed away in 2012. Goldman looking for a way to make it charismatic. In 2008, paint without worry of arrest. “People are always was even held up at gunpoint, although admit- just opened a 5,000-square-foot showroom, and values are climbing fast. Retail rented for $10 a was a property developer responsible, in part, for he found it. Jeffrey Deitch, then a gallerist in Soho, asking me how much I’m being paid for this wall tedly only once. Zak The Baker is opening up shop shortly. There’s square foot in 2003. Today it’s $40 on coveted the rebirth of New York’s Soho as well as South wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Keith or that wall,” says Shepard Fairey, one of Why the eruptive change? In a word, graffiti— even word of a hotel and 500 residential units in streets such as NW Second Avenue in the mid 20s, Beach. His method has often been to establish a Haring’s birth by re-creating the artist’s famous Goldman’s first artists, and probably the most acre after acre of resplendent colors, massive the next five years. and North Miami Avenue in the 30s. Warehouses beachhead in forsaken neighborhoods by buying mural of dancing figures on the same building at famed street artist in America today. “I go, ‘Look, images, ideas, turmoil: a curvy 10-foot tree Robert William de los Rios, the man behind might have sold for $40 a square foot in 2000. up land and opening restaurants. In 2004 and and Houston Street where the artist had not being arrested is being paid enough.’” The goddess, a horned man-beetle the size of a van, wynwoodmap.com, a site that aspires to catalogue Today, depending on location, it’s $250 to $300, 2005, Goldman bought over 25 properties in created it in the early ’80s. Goldman happened to formula worked. The first batch of artists also PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTHA COOPER (LIQEN WALL); MIA NUNEZ (GOLDMAN)

248 OCEANDRIVE.COM OCEANDRIVE.COM 249 Shepard Fairey (RIGHT) laying out one of his pieces to be pasted up.

“Everyone is walking around as if they were stoned because you’re always seeing something new.” —DAVID POLINSKY

included the likes of Barry McGee and Clare Rojas from San Francisco; Swoon, Futura, and Kenny Scharf from New York; the duo Os Gêmeos from Brazil; and Miami artist Jim Drain. They began painting the 18-walled alcove five months before Art Basel Miami Beach 2009. By the time the fair came to town, the Walls were complete and were a smash hit.

From Paste to Paint oldman always gave the artist carte Shepard Fairey, whose work helped fuel the street art scene in blanche, which allowed artists such Miami and globally, talks about how his style evolved out of fear of as Barry McGee, Vhils, and Liqen arrest, and why he’s kept his iconic aesthetic. to thrust themes of disenfranchise- ment, homelessness, and Gmaterialism in the face of a boom-and-bust city, a Has your style changed as a result of landlords giving you walls? city with a tradition of opulence and class I used to wheat paste all my murals because I could paint and screen-print on inequality. Wynwood abuts Overtown, one of the paper, and then put it together in a modular way very quickly, so I could do a lot most underserved areas of Miami. Race riots of the difficult work in my studio, safely, and then go out and quickly glue it up occurred in both Wynwood and adjacent Liberty on the wall [and evade capture]. Now that I’m given walls, I paint them. It lasts City in the ’80s and ’90s. And the Walls wouldn’t longer. The aesthetics are very similar, but it just means I can spend more time exist at all were it not for the fact that Wynwood, on-site and make it more permanent. My aesthetic of two, three colors and more post WWII, was a resortwear manufacturing iconic, simpler images with decorative elements that can work as one-color hotbed fueled by low-cost immigrant labor living stencils—that all developed out of the need for speed and simplicity. So, really, there. As that industry declined, so did the area. my style evolved out of those constraints, and now that I don’t have as many “Everything was considered dangerous,” says constraints, I still stick to what I think is memorable and unique. celebrity photographer Manny Hernandez, who Did you paint the portrait of Tony Goldman that’s in the Walls now? grew up in Wynwood in the 1980s. Yeah, that’s all painted. My original mural there was wheat pasted, but it started After the success of Wynwood Walls, and the to wear down. Then, very sadly, Tony died, and so that was even more of an energy it brought to the block, other landlords incentive to do a new mural. Some of the figures that are in the mural were began to follow suit, and a tradition was created. people that we both admired. Janet [Goldman] sent me a list of cultural, political, There are no rules, to speak of, but there are and musical heroes of Tony’s. manners. Robert William de los Rios has become Beyond Wynwood Walls, did you create anything in Miami when you were here somewhat of an agent between artists and for Art Basel? landlords. “There’s the respect of going up to the I did go out and do some wheat pasting in Wynwood. I’m out stickering, I’m out artist that’s currently there [on the wall] and putting up simple posters, and then I’m out doing murals. saying, ‘Hey, you know, we want to put someone else on this wall. If you’d like, we can put you Mural by Ukrainian street somewhere else. Let’s get something fresh.’” PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTHA COOPER (FAIREY); BILL KEARNEY (INTERESNI KAZKI) artist duo Interesni Kazki.

250 OCEANDRIVE.COM OCEANDRIVE.COM 251 252 The evolution of a neighborhood, from art to estate. real art from evolution The neighborhood, a of Wynwood Timeline

O sees economic decline. economic sees next 40 years, the area bottlingOver plants. the include shipping and industries in the area industry.resortwear Later serve Miami’s booming Wynwood warehouses 1950s CEANDRIVE.COM Collaborative piece by Luis Valle, Diana Contreras, and Buddah Funk. Rican Rican drug dealer. suspected Puerto in the death of a wereofficers acquitted group of Miami police population riots after a Puerto Rican Wynwood’s mostly 1990 areas of Miami. the more desolate scene in one of establish an arts helping to Dorsch) opens, (now Emerson Dorsch Gallery 2000 Wynwood. “get up” in Fairey to Shepard brings Bischof IIII Books 2004 W repeated itself all over the world. people Artistic well-located space,” says Cho. story “This has Lofts in 2005. “What really spurred it was cheap, factories into loft space, as well as build Wynwood Gallery inIt 2000. inspired him to convert attending an opening at the pioneering Dorsch glimpses of an sceneart after meeting Greco and owns 40 properties in the area, saw the first in Paris. Developer David Lombardi, who now he bought after experiencing a warehouse lifestyle atgatherings Charcoal Studios, a live/work space photographer Paul Greco was holding art somewhat organized when in he2007 and local and art, others. They often painted in the area. Objects Space,Art a that gallery focused on street culture and street Bischofart. from ran with artists on Wynwood because of its cred with skate friends was Books Bischof, IIII who focused Fairey the cool, isstuff grimy bubbling up.’” One of those were like, ‘Oh, you know, Wynwood, that’s where Shepard Fairey. “I have friends from that Miami Wynwood fit the bill. are usually people without a lot of means,” and since graffiti definedsince graffiti the neighborhood. break ground as the area’s residentialfirst project developer of 250 Wynwood, which is about to something new,” says David Polinsky, the were stoned because you’re always seeing just so fun—everyone isaround walking as if they Bischof’s random acts becameof graffiti “I bombedfirst down there in 2004,” says The result is a semi-controlled chaos.visual “It’s Wynwood. in properties over 25 buysProperties Goldman 2004–2005 years. As early as 1999, that vein had been forflowing but the art-focused blood in Walls, he tapped into a vein, hen Goldman created the Lofts. Wynwood completes Lombardi David 2005

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL KEARNEY (VALLE, MAGEE); MARTHA COOPER (MCGINNESS) — bubblingis up.” stuff cool, grimy that’s where the Wynwood director. “That’s where we want to go here.” go to want we where “That’s director. Wynwood own identity and create an exciting scale,” says Joseph Furst, Goldman Properties’ Williamsburg or the West Village. “You have smaller buildings that each have their itself? Goldman Properties wants to see a sort of rich urban ecosystem to akin Will the painted warehouses be replaced by endless condos? Will Wynwood eat being priced out of studios), there’s no telling exactly what happenwill in Wynwood. talent and had enough walls to create a tipping point. Goldmans helped it achieve a critical mass.” In the end, Goldman gathered enough off of some of the momentum that Books had established,” says Fairey. “The cop moment, Flight tapered Primary off in 2011. to help out. That was a moment we knew we had something.” Despite that zeitgeist- so that Shepard could continue to work. Ithe think crowd was so intense they decided him to paint in the night. And so the cops pull up and put their headlights on the wall Bischof. “The sun was going down, and we didn’t have enough money [for lights] for a crowd gathered. “It was like a rock concert,” says Wynwood now sits). As Shepard painted into dusk, Street and North AvenueMiami (where Suviche up with a wall on the Dorissa Building on 29th pointturning came Bischofin 2008. had set Fairey all timed legalto Basel.graffiti, Art A street art didn’t like the results, and managed to put up lots of landlords, promised to buff the wall clean if they gatheredfrom acrossartists America, contacted Typoeartist Gran Flight. createdHe Primary “ With the rise of the murals, and thus the property values (some are already artists “Iin athink lot of ways, Books was a pioneer and Tony Goldman was able to build Wynwood and other neighborhoods. up pieces around Wynwood America’s top painters put Beach, where some of timed to Art Basel Miami curated street art series launch Primary Flight, a Bischof and Typoe Gran 2007 SHEPARD FAIREY SHEPARD ,

25th Street. Avenue and NE Second Italian Café on Joey’sopens (Tony’s son) Joey Goldman 2008 and Hoxxoh. between Fintan Magee Mural collaboration Doors and TheDoors Outside Walls. to expand with Wynwood goes on Properties Goldman top streetLater, artists. 18 walls painted by the world’s Wynwood Walls, an alcove of Deitch, Tony creates Goldman In collaboration with Jeffrey 2009 Ryan McGinness working on his Wynwood Walls mural their buildings. toartists paint to cultivate the area begin landlords in Other 2009–present breaks ground. neighborhood, the defined since street art construction residential the area’s first 250 Wynwood, 2014 OCEANDRIVE.COM 33 Women

. 253 254 Walls” exhibit. Walls” Properties’ “Women on the boulder covers for Goldman Olek knitted vibrant Trek6; Trek6; Mural by Hec One Love and

O B CEANDRIVE.COM INSET with with 70 units and square50,000 feet of Anthony Spinello. Another building is going up feet and street curatedart by local boygallerist/It with 11 live/work spaces averaging 1,600 square ground behind Panther Coffee on 250 Wynwood, pre-construction South American money. to re-create Brickell—this isn’t about luring consensus among the players is that no one wants acre and a voluntary eight-story height Thelimit. Improvement District arefor vying 150 units per and others in the Wynwood Business want an interesting “creative class” as tenants. He makes for big, expensive units. It’s untenable if you is limited to 36 residential units an acre, which missing link.” The issue is zoning. Most of the area residential here to make the retail pop. That’s the neighborhood,” Furst says. “We really need some drag. “The reality is that retail is soft, in still, this “You know — the artwork is shifting so quickly.” And so it begins. David Polinsky is breaking : Polish artist three three blocks of Wynwood’s main drag. About three people live within live three blockswithin of the main in Los Angeles; thousands of people ut of think über-cool low-rise Venice, it’s alive it’s BOOKS IIII BISCHOF BOOKSIIII do generic shots in rapid succession. In the rather savor a glass of bourbonsmall-batch than we’ve learned from our hangovers and would have shown little Butrestraint. maybe, just maybe, says with a bit more emotion expected.than product because I’m not that kind of client,” she but not in Wynwood. “I don’t want a cookie-cutter Srebnick, who sees the value of Target in Midtown CEO (and Tony’s daughter) Jessica Goldman tenants,” says Goldman Properties’ cool? “It’s not just curating art, it’s curating that might lead? And how do you keep it Special Area Plan. Who knows where plot is big enough for a custom-zoned Mana Wynwood during Basel.Art His where Kendrick performedLamar at District and now owns the lot22-acre got in early on Manhattan’s Meatpacking is Moishe Mana, the New Yorker who Perhaps the biggest wildcard in the game 150 units per acre for one of its projects. Goldman just received an upzoning to ground-floor retail across the street. Historically, Miami’s land development habits , because

know it’s alive, because the artwork isso shifting looks like complete madness,” says Bischof. “You cultivated yet feral, “Itunfinished. dynamically couldanything happen. There is something murals together and you have aa gift, sense that landscape,” says Fairey. severalString hundred powerful—the way a great mural changes the ing. “When people see it in person, it’s quickly.” Let’s hope we can keep it that way. it that keep quickly.” hope we can Let’s chang stunning, beautiful, is art the meantime,

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL KEARNEY (OLEK, HEC ONE LOVE, INO)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TK; ILLUSTRATION BY TK INO’s In Heaven with You . OCEANDRIVE.COM

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