Miami has always been one of America’s most popular cities to visit. In the early 20th century wealthy entrepreneurs chose the area to built their magnificent mansions, or should we say palaces, to escape the cold winters up north. Back in the 1980’s Miami rose to fame thanks to Crockett and Tubbs who raced their fancy cars across the city in ‘Miami Vice’ and nowadays millions of visitors flock to the city for a dose of fun in the sun. And with plenty of sun-kissed days, yearly temperatures averaging 76°F (24,44°C), blue skies and gentle breezes creating the perfect background for any holiday picture, who can blame them.
STRIKE A POSE
While the Miami Beach Art Deco District and the soaring office towers and condominiums in downtown Miami are a mecca for fashionistas who like to pose in front of an amazing architectural background, Wynwood has become the ideal (colourful) backdrop for the perfect Instagram picture.
Located just north of downtown Miami, Wynwood has turned into one of Miami’s most dynamic and exciting neighborhoods thanks to the Wynwood Arts District.
Once a neglected warehouse district the Wynwood Arts District is now one big outdoor museum dedicated to graffiti and street art. The neighborhood is home to more than 100 galleries and the amazing Wynwood Walls, an open air park dedicated to urban murals. The project began in 2009 as a way to revitalize the community and bring the bland exterior of the warehouse district to life.
Here real estate developer and art lover Tony Goldman and arts guru Jeffrey Deitch provided artists from around the world a canvas to display their art. In 2010 an adjacent former dump was turned into Wynwood Doors, a park with trees and metal roll-down gates as canvases for smaller scale works of art.
Inspired by the Wynwood Walls the drab neighborhood was transformed into a fun and colourful ‘museum of the streets’ with hip bars, restaurants, shops and art galleries making it the place to be.
With painted walls and garage doors located all over the warehouse district you could drive around for hours and still not see them all.
Every second Saturday of the month galleries in Wynwood stay open late to debut new shows and the area takes on a festive atmosphere with food trucks and live music.
We explored Wynwood on a sunny, and not too busy, weekday afternoon and found the Arts District an amazing place that is always changing thanks to the constant addition of new murals. While there was plenty of parking available (using PayByPhone), we parked in the recently opened Wynwood Garage (where we could pay by creditcard). The garage in itself is a work of art and is located only one block from the Wynwood Walls.
Wynwood Walls: 2520 NW 2nd Ave. Miami, FL 33127
Wynwood Garage: 2750 NW 3rd Ave. Miami, FL 33127