LTC 223-2008 Sleepless Nightm ,11AMIBEACF
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
No. 22.3_200$ LETTER TO COMMISSION
Tp: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manage,
DATE: September 4, 2008 /~
SUBJECT: Sleepless Night ~l
As you knew, last year, the City of Miami Beach developed the inaugural edition of Sleepless
Night, an all-night, FREE, citywide celebration of the arts, presented by the City of Miami Beach
Tourism and Cultural Development (TCD) Department and Cultural Arts Council (CAC). The
event was produced in-house by City staff as a result of the response from the community in the
2005 and 2007 Community Satisfaction Surveys, where residents identified a desire for more
cultural activities. Sleepless Night was also developed as a result of the Cultural Arts Council's
desire to create a signature, annual cultural event to celebrate Miami Beach's commitment to 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.
This innovative citywide showcase of culture first began internationally when Paris hosted the first
"Nuit Blanche" event in 2002. The success of the event in Paris has made it an annual city
celebration and has become an international trend, spreading to cities such as Rome, Madrid,
Brussels, and Toronto. Sleepless Night is a collaboration of all the city's major cultural
institutions, theaters, galleries and arts organizations, along with hotels, shops, nightclubs,
restaurants, and international artists and presenters.
As a result of the tremendous success of the Sleepless Night 2007, the City immediately began
planning for Sleepless Night 2008. As you know, government funding has been severely
impacted over the last two years. While the City of Miami Beach remains committed to providing
new and interesting cultural programming for our residents and visitors, unfortunately and
unexpectedly, the current economic downturn in the United States has made the quest for private
funding, including sponsorship funds that helped subsidize last year's event, more competitive
than ever. This funding provided the seed money needed to ensure a successful event. We
found ourselves unable to proceed with the planning for this year's Sleepless Night and have
begun contacting our community partners. We remain confident that foundation and other private
and public funds for this event are forthcoming in the future, but available funding at this critical
stage of planning prevents us from proceeding this year. We are disappointed, but our belief in
this event and its transformative power to create community and increase cultural awareness is
unwavering. We have decided instead to apply our resources towards creating a truly
spectacular Sleepless Night for 2009. We are determined that what turned out to be last y~e~ar's
most successful experiment inaudience-building for the arts will return in full force on C7gtob~31,~
2009. ~~ r~ i ;°;~
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Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this even . - cis ~,
C: Hilda M. Fernandez, Assistant City Manager ~;
Max A. Sklar, Tourism and Cultural Development Director ~ ~ „~
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Gary Farmer, Cultural Affairs Program Manager -,._ -~- .~
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F:linfol$ALL1Max1TCD\LTC1SIeepless Night LTC 2008.doc