LTC 137-2007 Sleepless Night
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. 137-2007
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
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DATE: June 8, 2007
SUBJECT: Sleepless Night
On Saturday, November 3, 2007, Miami Beach will host SLEEPLESS NIGHT, an all-night,
free, citywide celebration of the arts, presented by the City's Tourism and Cultural
Development Department and Cultural Arts Council. SLEEPLESS NIGHT is a collaboration
of all of the city's major cultural institutions, theaters, galleries and arts organizations, along
with hotels, shops, clubs, restaurants, and individual artists and presenters. It will include
indoor and outdoor art exhibits, installations, performances, fashion shows, tours, dance,
theater, music, film and other cultural offerings, all presented without admission charge.
Free public transportation will connect the four major zones of activity: North Beach, Collins
Park, Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive.
SLEEPLESS NIGHT is the result of the Cultural Arts Council's desire to create a signature,
annual cultural event to celebrate Miami Beach's commitmentto the arts. With the opening
of the Carnival Center, and the discontinuation of the annual "Invitation to the Arts" season
preview, the CAC felt it essential to present a new event that would focus the cultural
spotlight on Miami Beach. The idea of asunset-to-sunrise showcase of the arts began with
the first Nuit Blanche in Paris in 2002; its continuing success (more than amillion-and-a-half
visitors each year) has spawned similar events in Rome, Madrid, Brussels, Toronto and
other cities. SLEEPLESS NIGHT is the first time a citywide event of this type will occur in
the United States. The night of November 3~d was chosen because it marks the end of
Daylight Savings Time, providing an extra hour of nighttime in the year's only 25-hour day,
and fits perfectly with the city's "Miami Beach 25/7" marketing campaign ("Miami Beach, so
much to do you need an extra hour.")
As of May 15, 2007, those eager to participate in SLEEPLESS NIGHT include Animate
Objects Physical Theater, Architects of Air, Art Center/South Florida, Arts Connection, Bass
Museum of Art, Books and Books, Pablo Cano, Mariangela Capuzzo, Centro Cultural
Espanol, Dance Now! Ensemble, Chus Garcia Fraile, GenArt, Barbara Hulanicki,
Interdisciplinary Sound Arts Workshop, Jewish Museum of Florida, Live Nation, Ivan
Martinez, Gustavo Matamoros, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Miami Beach
Cinematheque, Miami City Ballet, Miami Design Preservation League, Miami International
Film Festival, Miami Light Project, Miami World Theater Festival, Rhonda Mitrani, New
World Symphony, Ocean Drive Magazine, Rudy Perez, Red Chemistry, Bert Rodriguez,
Sarruga, Seraphic Fire, Magnus Sigurdarson and Ragnar Kjartansson, Spiegelworld,
Tigertail Productions, William Morris Agency and Wolfsonian-FIU. They are proposing to
present a wide variety of cultural programming, ranging from the intimate (Matamoros' six-
hourpiano piece in the Miami City Ballet's Studio Five) to the monumental (the Florida debut
of Alan Parkinson's thousand-square-meter luminarium Levity ll.) Additionally, the city's
hotels, restaurants and clubs are being encouraged to offer free performances and
exhibitions and will be included in the night's program.
Seed money for SLEEPLESS NIGHTfrom the CAC marketing budgetwill be supplemented
by private sector sponsor funding.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this event.
C: Management Team
Hilda M. Fernandez, Assistant City Manager
Max A. Sklar, Tourism and Cultural Development Director
Gary Farmer, Cultural Affairs Program Manager
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