Empty Storefronts on Miracle Mile Converted to Art Studios

An Experiment in Live Art is Unveiled on the Mile

On the southwest corner of the intersection of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Miracle Mile, in a space once occupied by a Starbucks, two artists are diligently at work. Here, Maria Lino is working on portraits that depict the anguish of global migration, while Aida Tejada is layering her canvases with dense images of the modern world.

Across the street, Carlos Luna, a highly regarded contemporary Cuban-American painter and sculptor, has created a gallery in a sparkling white space with high ceilings and a second story loft in the back, where he spends time each day at work.

Before Lincoln Road became the popular destination it is today – or at least was, before the pandemic – it was home to dozens of working artists who created a draw for pedestrians. The South Florida Art Center alone housed a score of studios where painters and sculptors worked, and from which they sold their wares.

Something like that is happening now on Miracle Mile, where six empty storefronts owned by Terranova, and one owned by the city, have been converted into working studios for artists.

“We want to position Coral Gables as a city where citizens enjoy and love art,” says Aura Reinhardt, executive director of the downtown BID (Business Improvement District). “This is not just about filling up space, but offering something that speaks to our residents, to our demographics – people who enjoy art, who travel to see art. We wanted to come up with something in the city.”

That “something” is a three-month experiment in which working artists are given a studio where they can work and display their art, a hybrid studio/gallery. “The idea for ‘Artists on the Mile’ was Mindy McIlroy’s,” says Terranova chairman Stephen Bittel (McIlroy is Terranova’s president, who serves on the BID board). “It was to create an opportunity for artists, who were suffering enormously with no one going to galleries, no one buying art. We put them in at no rent, with the BID paying for electricity and insurance.”

For both the BID and Terranova, the largest landlord on Miracle Mile, it is also a way to lure more people downtown. “It’s about walking down the Mile and feeling good about being outside,” says Reinhardt. “We wanted to activate spaces, to see people at work in their studios, to see what it’s like.” 

McIlroy and Terranova had already tried the experiment of combined gallery/studio with Conde Contemporary on Miracle Mile, where Stacy Conde curated the gallery up front while husband Andre painted in his studio in the back. While it was a success, the Condes ultimately decided to relocate to Stacy’s family home in Natchez, Mississippi, during the pandemic.

In addition to Conde Contemporary, Miracle Mile has lost more than a half dozen other businesses to the virus. Bittel says the street will not fully recover until the office workers who patronized downtown restaurants and retailers return. “When that happens, the Mile turns back on. But until then…challenging times take more creativity,” he says. Offering pedestrians another motivation to walk the Mile is a part of that creativity. 

While the experiment was planned only for three months, it is likely to be extended. “If in three months we are exactly where we are [with the pandemic], we certainly will be able to continue,” says Bittel. “The city has art in public places. This is Terranova’s effort to have art in our spaces.” And, should the gallery/studios succeed, they may even become permanent (aka paying) tenants.

Meanwhile the artists, who were chosen by local art historian and expert Carol Damien, are thrilled to be working in the downtown. Among them are six high school graduates who won art school scholarships, but could not attend due to the pandemic. They are all in a studio adjacent to Lino and Tejada. 

“They were supposed to go to art schools, some of the best in the country, but their schools were closed,” says Damien. As for the other, more accomplished artists, the chance to work – and exhibit that work – in the downtown is a boon. “I have my own studio, but it’s in my house,” says Cuban artist Luna. “In Coral Gables, this particular street is an opportunity.”