Miami finished in the top half of the Best 50 cities in the U.S. for artists, according to Rent.com.
The consumer website proclaimed “No starving artists here: These cities are the best places for artists to live well and practice their craft,” in an announcement of the annual rankings.
Researchers rated each city across a number of factors, including a vibrant performing arts scene, number of museums per capita, average studio rents and walkability. Hartford topped the list, followed by Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Philadelphia, Berkeley, Chicago, St. Louis and Baltimore.
The best Florida finisher, Miami, came in at 23rd, ranking 3rd in performing arts, but 52nd in walkability and a dismal 113th for studio apartment rent. Coral Gables was 31st (129th for studio rent) and Fort Lauderdale was 42nd (136th for studio rent). Maybe artists are still starving in South Florida.
For more information, go to Rent.com/blog/best-cities-for-artists.
Our Fund Supports Local Arts Organization
Our Fund Foundation, South Florida’s only LGBT community foundation, announced its Arts & Culture Fund will award 18 grants totaling $226,500 to support innovative LGBT-specific programs in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Individual grants range from $5,000 - $20,000.
“With so many worthy grant applications to evaluate, our review committee prioritized agencies whose goal was building new, post-pandemic programs with expanded capabilities,” said David Jobin, president and CEO. “Our Fund believes that success for arts and culture agencies in the post-pandemic environment will be defined by an ability to pivot and continue adapting to evolving situations.”
Grant recipients include ArtServe, ArtsUnited, Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida, Island City Stage, OutShine LGBTQ Film Festival, Plays of Wilton, South Florida Symphony Orchestra and Thou Art Woman.
Awardees will be recognized during a socially distanced grant reception on Monday, June 7 at 6 p.m. at Our Fund’s headquarters, 1201 NE 26th St Suite 108 in Wilton Manors.
For more information, go to Our-Fund.org.
Arsht Center Announces Theater Up Close Season
Live theater will be returning to the Arsht Center this fall, just in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Theater Up Close series with five productions from Zoetic Stage and City Theatre.
Carbonell Award-winning juggernaut Zoetic Stage, helmed by Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer, will present the South Florida premiere of Nick Dear’s “Frankenstein,” October 14 – 31, 2021 and the world premiere of Hannah Benitez’s “Gringolandia,” January 13 – 30, 2022. They will follow those plays in the Carnival Studio Theater with another Stephen Sondheim musical, “A Little Night Music,” March 17 – April 10, and the Florida premiere of Alexis Scheer’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord.”
City Theatre’s artistic director Margaret Ledford will direct the contemporary holiday classic, “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” by Tom Mula, December 2 – 19, 2021.
Subscriptions and more information are available at ArshtCenter.org. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.
