Art Basel Miami

There's no hype about duct-taped bananas coming out of south Florida this year, but it's almost Art Basel Miami time, so there will undoubtedly be something stirring in the art world.

Arguably the biggest and most significant art festival in the United States each year, Art Basel Miami arrives this weekend, December 5-7, and while most of us art geeks will not be attending and rubbing shoulders with the world's elite artists, gallerists, dealers, patrons, and fashionistas, we can still live vicariously through the coming tidal wave of press and social media coverage.

The New York Times has a primer for those interested in attending:

The Miami Beach edition of Art Basel is unique in that it takes place on a single floor, rather than in a multistory location as the other Basel fairs in Hong Kong, Paris and Basel, Switzerland do.

Here, when visitors walk into the Miami Beach Convention Center, all 283 galleries from 43 countries sit adjacent to one another, a sea of paintings and people.

“You can feel that palpable hum of energy, people, art, light, landscapes — the whole cultural convergence — in that moment,” said Bridget Finn, director of Art Basel’s Miami Beach show. Finn, who took on the role just before the fair in 2023, came to Art Basel from the gallery world, having most recently served as a partner and managing director of the Detroit art gallery Reyes Finn.

And, of course, many other arts and culture writers will offer their insights and advice as well. Art Basel Miami is sort of the cornerstone of Miami Art Week, and there will also be plenty of coverage for art events flanking the festival, such as this piece from Casey Brennan for Grazia Magazine: "Everything to Know About Miami Art Week 2025"

Every December, Miami Beach becomes a stage where the worlds of art and fashion intersect under sunlight and spotlights. This year, Art Basel Miami Beach returns the first week of December, marking its twenty-third edition and a clear step forward for the fair’s evolution.

With 285 galleries from 44 countries and more than 40 first-time exhibitors, Basel 2025 feels both expansive and intimate—featuring legacy names while alive with new ideas.

For the first time, Art Basel introduces its global awards program, a new initiative celebrating artists, galleries, and curators shaping the cultural landscape today. The ceremony, set for December 4, is already one of the week’s most anticipated events—more than a gala, it’s a statement about where the art world is heading next. Inside the Convention Center, the works span every scale and medium, while beyond its walls, the city transforms into a living extension of the fair itself.

I can't recall when I first became aware of the festival that has been around since 2002 -- the original event and organization began in 1970. But as I have grown more interested in the art world, both as a general art geek as well as an occasional arts writer, the festival is now on my radar, and someday I may just hop on a plane and take the plunge. 

Last year, I was intrigued to see Joe Taveras, an artist I'd been following for a while on Instagram, show up at Art Basel Miami with his new arts organization, the New Renaissance. And I thought that was pretty cool because Joe just started painting in the summer of 2020 during pandemic, and in just five years he was showing artists at a premier international art event. And that just goes to show you, as Joe has said, “It’s incredible what can happen in a year with passion, dedication, and perseverance.”