June Programming at The Wolfsonian

The Wolfsonian—literally. They’re inviting Miami’s little ones (and their families) to learn how to bee-come budding beekeepers at a Pollinator Party-themed free family day (6/1), then turning attention to brand new installation,Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer (opening 6/7). Bringing back our 2016 New Tropic collaboration, The New Tropicana (6/7), for a second round in celebration of the Cuba-centric show. The party promises to be muy caliente, channeling the spirit of Havana with dancing (brush up on your cha-cha-cha!), music by Son Cubano, and mojitos—and best of all, it’s free!

 

Paying homage to Art Deco’s enduring legacy with the second film in the museum-and-a-movie summer series,Lights, Camera, Deco: Flying Down to Rio (6/16), featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Ongoing programs like Second Shift (6/14), Miami Beach Culture Crawl (6/26), and Sketching in the Galleries (6/28), so there’s a little something for everyone.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS


Sat, June 1 | 12–3pm

Discovering Design Free Family Day: Pollinator Party

Have you heard the buzz? The Wolf is celebrating National Pollinator Month with a series of sweeeet activities. Fly on by and sample some honey while you learn how to build your own pollinator feeders. Then, at story time, learn more about what it takes to be a beekeeper in These Bees Count by Alison Formento and Sarah Snow.

 

Free and open to the public | RSVP

 

Fri, June 7 | 7–10pm 

The New Tropicana

With summer just two weeks away, we’re feeling Tropic-al! Join us for our latest New Tropic partnership, an all-out Cuban bash celebrating the opening of our latest installation, Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer. Take in the influential illustrations of the 20th-century master while enjoying dancing, live music from Son Cubano, and Bacardi cocktails. Free and open to the public.

Free and open to the public | RSVP

 

Fri, June 14 | 6–9pm

Second Shift

It’s SoBe’s best-kept nightlife secret: when the other happy hours wind down, we keep the killer specials going! For a sophisticated date night that will be kind on your wallet, pencil in a stop at The Wolf. First take a free guided tour of the galleries at 6pm, then head downstairs to the Design Store for half-priced beer, wine, and mixed drinks. After pre-gaming with our one-two punch of culture and cocktails, you’ll be right in the heart of the action only a couple of blocks from Ocean Drive—perfectly situated to hit the town in style.

 

Free and open to the public; drinks available for purchase

 

Sun, June 16 | 4–6:30pm (4pm tour + 5pm film)

Lights, Camera, Deco: Flying Down to Rio

Some say it’s a masterpiece, others claim it was an elaborate advertisement for Pan-Am. In the second film of our Deco series with the Miami Beach Cinematheque, Thornton Freeland’s 1933 musical Flying Down to Rio, a young couple explores a complicated attraction first in Miami, and then in the air. With the debut pairing of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, some in-flight piano playing, and an aerial ballet with chorus girls, Flying Down to Rio is sure to impress. Learn about Streamline Moderne through a 4pm tour of Deco: Luxury to Mass Market at The Wolfsonian before experiencing Flying Down to Rio at the Cinematheque at 5pm.

$11; FREE* for MBC and Wolfsonian members, seniors, and students | Tickets
*Optional tour of Deco at The Wolf is included in the film admission price.


Wed, June 26 | 6–10pm

Miami Beach Culture Crawl
Once a month, The Wolfsonian partners with the City of Miami Beach and neighboring institutions for a free evening of à la carte culture. Just hop on the complimentary trolley service stopping at each of the participating locations (or grab your bike or comfy walking shoes!) and take in the best of South Beach’s art, performances, screenings, and tours. Plan your night as you like it—choose a couple of spots, or make the full rounds, 6–10pm. Visit mbartsandculture.org for full details and route.

Free and open to the public

 

Fri, June 28 | 7–8:30pm   

Sketching in the Galleries

Tap into your inner artist by sketching in our galleries! Drawing materials, gallery stools, and professional bilingual instruction provided to participants of all ages and skill levels. English/Spanish

Free and open to the public; walk-in basis, no RSVP required

 

Weekly on Fri | 6–6:45pm

Free Friday Guided Tours

Learn more about The Wolfsonian and related art and design themes during a 45-minute free guided tour of the building, collection, or exhibitions. New guides bring different perspectives each week!
Free and open to the public


EXHIBITIONS + INSTALLATIONS


NEW! Opens June 7
Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer
With his biting political satire, celebrity caricatures, and magazine and advertising illustrations, graphic artist Conrado Walter Massaguer (1889–1965) helped shape the visual culture of his native Cuba between the 1920s and 1950s. This installation of works recently gifted to The Wolfsonian Library by Vicki Gold Levi will bring forth Massaguer’s legacy through dozens of works, from images of the “New Woman” flapper ideal (the so-called “Massa-girls”) in his magazine Social to depictions of tropical paradise for the Cuban Tourist Commission. Massaguer’s transnational reach will be shown in his covers for Collier’s and Life, while cartoons of visiting dignitaries and Hollywood stars will reveal how he rubbed shoulders with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, and the King of Spain—all evidence of an artist at the center of Havana’s cosmopolitan culture in the decades before the Cuban Revolution.

Ongoing
Deco: Luxury to Mass Market
“Art Deco” has come to evoke a set of styles that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s out of aspirations to fuse art and industry into a modern language of design. From exquisite handcrafted objects to streamlined household appliances, the items on display in Deco will demonstrate how American designers adapted a style associated with European luxury to the demands of industrial mass production. Through decorative arts, product design, architecture, and graphics from the Wolfsonian collection, the exhibition will trace Art Deco’s origins in Europe, its migration to the United States, and its evolution into a fully American style—perhaps most spectacularly realized on Miami Beach in the 1930s.


Deco: Luxury to Mass Market 
is made possible by Diane and Alan Lieberman and the South Beach Group, with the support of Jamestown, L.P., and Saul and Jane Gross and Streamline Properties.


Through August 25
Deco Designs
Deco Designs highlights decorative compositions from leading artists and designers working in Paris in the 1920s. Featuring vibrantly colorful and complex patterns, this library installation illustrates a variety of influences and individual styles and shows how Deco borrowed from exotic and ancient cultures, contemporaneous avant-garde movements, and modern technologies. Produced using the pochoirtechnique, a refined and labor-intensive stenciling process, the handmade prints on view epitomize the opulence of the era. Compiled in luxury portfolios and marketed to collectors, design studios, and artists, they inspired designs for interior decoration and helped spread the spirit of Art Deco.

The Wolfsonian’s library installations are generously sponsored by Henry S. Hacker. Deco Designs is presented concurrently with the museum’s major exhibition Deco: Luxury to Mass Market.


Ongoing

Art and Design in the Modern Age: Selections from the Wolfsonian Collection
These galleries provide an overview of the museum’s holdings of American and European artifacts from 1850 to 1950. Culled from The Wolfsonian collection are approximately three hundred works in a variety of formats, ranging from books, posters, and postcards to decorative arts, architectural models, paintings, and sculptures. Focal points include design reform movements, urbanism, industrial design, transportation, world’s fairs, advertising, and political propaganda. Inaugurated in November 1996, this ongoing exhibition is periodically updated.

Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit online at wolfsonian.org for further information.

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