Local artists' bus stop ad challenges Miami's development, gentrification
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The bus stop ad on Calle Ocho. Photo courtesy Motyko Morales.
In a city like Miami, it's easy to be overstimulated by visual clutter.
- Local artist Motyko Morales is hoping to cut through that noise with art — and the message it's aiming to convey.
State of art: Displayed along a bus stop ad on Calle Ocho, her collage portrays the changing landscape in and around Miami's skyline.
- Made in response to policy decisions pushing out a local trailer home park, the collage combines images of tents, cranes, a woman with a camera and the roaming roosters Little Havana locals are accustomed to seeing.
- "Your luxury is our displacement" is written in black and red ink.
Why it matters: As the city continues to face threats of gentrification and displacement of its residents, Morales hopes art can shine a light on the plight of everyday working people.
- The display also comes as upcoming ballot measures spark conversations about who gets to call this city home and who its future is being built for.
What they're saying: "Calle Ocho has become a tourist destination, while just a few blocks away you're seeing rents double and triple," Morales told Axios recently.
- The piece makes the displacement "visible to the tourists who are spending their dollars here and to the commercial developers building high rises in a predominately working class neighborhood."
The big picture: The ad space commission is part of Save Art Space, a national nonprofit that features local artists' work on city billboards and bus stop ads.
- Launched in 2015 in Brooklyn, the organization featured its second-ever installation that same year during Art Week in Miami.
- Since then, it has continued to showcase Miami artists around the city and has expanded to at least 35 cities across America, displaying more than 1,100 billboards from more than 700 artists, executive director Travis Rix told Axios.
How it works: Save Art Space launches an open call, usually connected to a particular theme, and works with local curators and nonprofits to find local artists.
- In recent years, it's worked with Bakehouse Art Complex and Fountainhead Arts, and it's currently accepting submissions for Art Week.
- Lizzie Suarez-Smith curated Morales' piece.
The final product is usually placed near where the artist works or lives "so they can interact with it," and it's usually on display for about four weeks, Rix said.
- For political pieces, such as Morales', the hope is for developers, influencers and tourists "to get the message from the local artist," he said.
Zoom in: Through collaging, Morales is able to memorialize the area, capture what she's seeing around her and create a "photographic archive" of the people and places that are here now.
- A lot of the images included in her work are taken on walks in her Little Havana neighborhood, she said.
The bottom line: Artists have a responsibility to reflect and confront the times, Morales said.
- "Being from Little Havana, [the display] feels especially important. I hope [it serves] as a mirror to the displacement happening so it's not ignored."
What's next: The bus ad will be on display for another week or two.