Story and Photos by Irene Sperber

	Bakehouse Art Complex

Visiting Wynwood for Gallery Walks, 2007-style, is so markedly different from  previous years that it boggles one’s mind.  We are now calling it the Wynwood Arts District, and I found myself sharing parking spaces with customers from Target, Marshall’s and West Elm---a far cry  from my old M.O. of arriving armed with an uzi and rottweiler.  (Okay, I’m kidding, but only marginally).

Held regularly on the second Saturday of every month from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the number of galleries is exploding at a rate that would impress a bunny.  There are approximately 55 art dealers at the moment.  I managed only a tiny selection on my last jaunt, which allows for repeat walks without repeating galleries.

	Bakehouse artist Thivo’s Nerikomi ceramic vessel of stained and layered clay pieces

Bakehouse Art Complex
561 NW 32nd Ave, Miami
305-576-2828
www.bakehouseartcomplex.org
I opted for starting with the Bakehouse Art Complex, a not-for profit environment for artists needing reasonable studio space.  Located since 1985 in the abandoned 1930s American Baking Company building, it is a pleasant space to wander through the 70 studios and speak with artists as they creatively morph through their psyches.

	Damien B. in his gallery

Damien B.Contemporary Arts Center
282 NW 36 Street, Miami
305-573-4949
www.damienb.com
The Damien B. Contemporary Arts Center, which also has studio space for rent, was my second stop.  Damien is one of the frontiersmen of Wynwood. The gallery incorporates an outdoor area, regularly displaying several large sculptures.  In the “old” days, we parked our cars in his heavily fenced-in yard; now there are clearly marked spaces on the newly widened and freshly tarred 36th Street.  (Is that really a sidewalk café I see?) 

	The Warrior Pit #5: Clay sculptures by Wanxin Zhang at the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery

Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
3550 N. Miami Avenue, Miami
305-573-2700
Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com
I hadn’t been to Bernice Steinbaum’s Gallery in way too long.  Bernice was one of the first to come down from New York and take a gamble on Miami’s burgeoning art scene, as threadbare as it was seven-plus years ago. A dealer in New York for 25 years, Bernice founded the Miami Art Exchange, one of the first organized groups in the area.  She chose her two-story building in Wynwood, knowing the land would be valuable, as well as needing a large venue for events.  Reasonably priced (remember those days?) spacious buildings were sure to bring others to the area. The gallery houses diverse works of art from sculptures made of dirt, flies, ceramic or bronze, as well as multicultural photographs and paintings.  The artist talks contribute to education of the community as well as the gallery providing a commercial environment.  Catch Pablo Tamayo’s “Portraiture of the Art Crowd” through June 9.  Tamayo uses laser cutting thru fiberboard to create an image which blends from one recognizable Miami face to the next.

	Gallerie Emmanuel Perrotin's MiMo stairway

Gallerie Emmanuel Perrotin
194 NW 30 Street, Miami
Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
www.gallerieperrotin.com
Gallerie Emmanuael Perrotin is a sexy looking building inside with a MiMo floating tiled staircase from the 1950s.  The two-year-old Perrotin Gallerie  also has a venue in Paris.  A delicious outside garden for sculpture and events makes for a very pleasant viewing environment.

	Perrotin Gallerie: Rosemary Ravinal and Dr. Tony Japour discuss artist Guy Limone’s Kelly's Piece at the Perrotin Gallerie