Temporary-Public-Art-OnStage-Release
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
Matt Kenny, E-Mail: mattkenny@miamibeachfl.gov
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH ANNOUNCES NEW TEMPORARY PUBLIC ART
COMMISSIONS FOR ART WEEK MIAMI BEACH
BY CARLOS BETANCOURT AND FRIENDSWITHYOU
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Opening Ceremony 4 PM – 6 PM on Espanola Way between Drexel Avenue
and Washington Avenue
Miami Beach - November 29, 2021 - On December 2, the City of Miami Beach, as part of its
OnStage! program, will unveil two new public art commissions by Carlos Betancourt and
FriendsWithYou along the Espanola Way public promenade.
Carlos Betancourt: Milagros!
A collaboration between Betancourt and architect Alberto Latorre, Milagros! is an ephemeral
installation inspired by an old folk custom traceable to the ancient Iberians who inhabited the
coastal regions of Spain. The work is composed of hundreds of charms hanging on wire garlands
above the street, presented as symbols of devotion, hope, and healing. These charms can usually
be seen attached to altars and shrines, often presented as a votive offering for healing purposes.
Also called ex-votos or promesas they can be found internationally, but particularly in Latin
America. Depending on local customs, they can be made of different materials but are generally
tin and metals. A mechanism to activate the viewer's wishes and desires, Milagros alludes to the
importance of history, traditions, and cultural heritage in the context of an increasingly hegemonic
contemporary culture.
In developing the work, Betancourt invited friends and the public to submit their most significant
desires and wishes which he utilized for inspiration and direction. On the public unveiling, viewers
are invited to walk through the suspended “temple” above their heads as a way to symbolically
activate the installation.
FriendsWithYou: Little Cloud Sky
The duo behind FriendsWithYou, Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, will unveil Little Cloud
Sky, a similarly suspended installation which employs the familiar FriendsWithYou “Happy Cloud”
that creates a cheerful overcast above Espanola Way. The whimsical characters are intended to
transport the viewer to a joyful place amidst the busy storefronts and walkways. As the viewer
catches glimpses of each Happy Cloud that passes overhead, the clouds will travel with the viewer
everywhere they go.
About Miami Beach OnStage!
Miami Beach OnStage! is the city’s largest free outdoor performing and visual arts program, which
presents live performances and site-specific temporary art installations in Miami Beach’s beautiful
parks, pedestrian streets and other unexpected locations throughout the city. These culturally
diverse performances include music, dance, movies, and temporary art installations.
About Carlos Betancourt
Carlos Betancourt (born San Juan, Puerto Rico 1966) is an American artist, generally described
as a multi-disciplinary artist. His artworks explore issues of memory, and his own experiences,
while also dwelling in issues of nature, the environment and matters of beauty, identity, and
communication. By means of re-examination, he recycles and reinterprets the past by delivering
it in a fresh and new relevant context. Influenced by personal memories, he believes that art can
be informed by one's own experiences, not necessarily the other way around.
Mr. Betancourt's artwork is part of public collections such as the Smithsonian' National Portrait
Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NSU Art Museum Fort
Lauderdale, San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana, Palm
Springs Arts Museum, California, Bass Museum of Art, Florida, PAMM Perez Art Museum,
Florida, Museo de Arte Ponde, Puerto Rico. His work is exhibited in various galleries as well as
art fairs such as Art Basel and Arco. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including
the Florida Department of State Millennium Cultural Recognition Award, a National Endowment
for the Arts Grant, Bas-Fisher Invitational Grant, the Florida Prize on Contemporary Art People
Choice Award, and the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council Grant. He has worked as a curator,
furniture designer and has collaborated in architectural and site-specific private and public
commissions with architect Alberto Latorre.
About FriendsWithYou
FriendsWithYou is the art collaboration of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, created with
the intention to bring more joy, kindness, and love to the world. The collaboration is a vehicle for
the exploration of emotional healing through culture creation and art making. Each work is created
with the intention of transcendence, and nurturing care for the viewer or participant.
FriendsWithYou’s meaning is in its name, in that everything in the universe can and wants to be
friends with you, an aide in the promotion of love, harmony & peace in our lives. Our goal is to
connect and heal as much as possible through our work, to grow the love and joy in each person,
creating an exponential aggregate of sharing, healing, and compassion for each other and our
living planet.
Media Contact
For additional information, images and interview requests please contact:
Andy Cushman
Blue Medium
E: acushman@bluemedium.com
T: +1 (212) 675-1800