Art Basel: Liberal Arts

Michael Spring, veteran director of the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, credits Art Basel’s organizer (privately held MCH Swiss Exhibitions) with carefully selecting sponsors that would help surround the fair with an alluring mystique. Media attention has been a publicist’s dream, with legions of reporters from around the world descending on south Florida each December to chronicle the holiday extravagances of the art-loving monied class. Art Basel Miami Beach, as Spring puts it, is “the confluence of art, money and style.”

That amalgam, some industry leaders say, has forever changed the art market. Art collecting is now de rigueur — a fashion statement for anybody willing to write a check or eager to impress their friends. “Instead of buying a new Rolex, people will buy art,” says Alexis Hubshman, the New York-based founder and director of SCOPE Miami, an art fair that occurs during Art Basel. It recorded $14 million in art sales last year. “It’s a new way for the wealthy to invest their bucket loads of cash, and I’ll tell you they’re running out of buckets.”

Hubshman expects to see plenty of Chinese and Russians this year. Indeed, UBS will offer clients private tours of the fair in a number of languages — Chinese and Russian among them. “Fairs make it easier to collect,” adds Hubshman. “For the new buyer it’s less intimidating than going to a dealer or a gallery.”

Despite the subprime crisis, the real estate slump and jitters on Wall Street, industry insiders predict strong sales and sustained prices at this year’s fair. Austin says sale prices for modern and contemporary art remain “in the stratosphere.” At UBS, client inquiries to its art advisory service are rising, and the firm can’t keep pace with demand for tickets to its VIP events during the fair.

The success of Art Basel Miami Beach has been a boon to the region’s local arts industry, which officials say contributes nearly $1 billion to the economy each year. Once-blighted neighborhood’s such as Miami Design District, the Upper East Side and Wynwood (where SCOPE Miami sets up under a tent in a gritty park) are blossoming as cultural enclaves. Spending on art infrastructure is up: Miami now boasts a new half-billion-dollar performing arts center and major expansions to three art museums.

Miami-Dade County also spends $22 million annually supporting local arts groups — more than double what it was in 2001, before Art Basel arrived. Spring credits Art Basel Miami Beach for demonstrating to local leaders the economic benefits of a vibrant, sustainable arts community. “We can ride the wave of Art Basel only for so long,” says Spring. “The long term benefits will come from the direct investments we make to support the arts.”

Links: Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual December extravaganza celebrating modern and contemporary art, is as much tribal gathering as art fair. [Photos] For more articles this month with extra links, go to the Links page.

Tags: Miami-Dade