« Features
Reconceptualizing Art Management. An Interview with Milagros Bello
In 2010, Venezuela-born art critic and curator Milagros Bello opened Curator’s Voice Art Projects, a creative laboratory that has fueled the careers of many artists from both Florida and abroad and has helped encourage art collecting in the area. We met her to talk about the achievements of this initiative and what she is planning for the coming months.
By Ashley Knight
Ashley Knight - In 2010, you opened the doors of Curator’s Voice. What were your goals when creating this space? What have been the main challenges you faced to position your gallery?
Milagros Bello - In 2010-after having developed my curatorial career in Miami since 2000 and having prepared and presented multiple curated exhibitions, as chief curator of Hardcore Art Gallery in Wynwood, curator at the Jewish Museum/Miami, and heading NoBe’s curatorial project presented during the Art Basel season in 2008, Merrill Lynch arteaméricas curated shows presented continuously from 2003 through 2007, and other projects presented in the Art Gallery of Miami Dade College/Kendall Campus, all of them focusing on contemporary art-I decided to open Curator’s Voice Art Projects (CVAP) in Wynwood, to foster contemporary art. Based not only on this fruitful experience, but based also on my theoretical studies at Sorbonne University in Paris, with a Ph.D. in sociology of art and a master’s in art history, I created an art space for artists and for curators to present a different approach to exhibiting in Miami. CVAP’s mission is to offer postmodern and modern art exhibitions to the public in curated shows, either by me or by any other invited curators. We combine cutting-edge artists with more classic proposals, creating an interesting balance for reflection and learning. At CVAP, all the exhibitions are curated and obey to a theoretical approach to art. This is a totally different initiative.
Through curated exhibitions, lectures, creative workshops and art advising sessions, Curator’s Voice Art Projects encourages art collecting and reinforces the careers of its roster of artists. Photos: Leo Di Tomaso.
At the same time I have also worked as an art critic, professor of art at Florida International University and at Florida Atlantic University, as full-time faculty at the Miami International University of Art & Design and as a senior editor for the art magazine Arte al Día, in this last position deepening my knowledge of Latin American art.
The challenge to position CVAP has been linked to the development of Miami as a cultural city and growth of collectors and buyers who are open to new proposals and new voices in the visual arts. We all are pioneers in Miami, and we have to persevere in developing the arts in this city.
CVAP has been conceived as an “incubator of artists,” a space for learning and the developing of the artists. The curatorial experience involves a process of dialogue and discussion. Curator and artist link into envisioning the best outcome of the art project and the work. Artists engage into a route of art discovery through interaction and exchange of ideas. That is my definition of ‘incubator of artists.’ It is conceived as a platform of creation in a wide sense. As a curator, I need the artist to actively interact with the process and evolution on the exhibition.
I also have conceived an art coaching program for artists focused on systematic art sessions in the artist’s studio or by Skype to specifically discuss the artist’s creative process, his/her obstacles and doubts, his/her career. This program aims to consolidate and improve the artist’s artworks.
CVAP has developed a roster of artists that demonstrated their talent and their scope and include Rosario Bond, Valentina Bilbao, Alessandro Abate, Giancarlo Ciavaldini, Francisco Cerón, Ramón Chirinos, D’Goz, Nicolás Felizola, Diana Font, Dunieski García, Lugufelo, Mike Moore, Martin Morales, Rafael Parra Toro, Rodrigo Picón, Alberto Riera, Luis J. Silva, Sara Roitman, Gilberto Salazar, Migdalia Salazar, Gustavo Santander, Paula Sarmiento, Wuilfredo Soto, Richard Valdés, and Jason Wilson, among others.
A.K. - How can an artist be included in your exhibitions?
The process can differ from easy natural or suggested therapies to complicated surgery viagra mastercard with regards to the main cause of the issue and also necessary to get through your busy day, thanks to the high lipid content of the acai berry. 5. There are some other herbs which are used viagra usa price as herbal treatment for overweight. They offer comprehensive to females viagra online sample of any age. They are not associated with any harmful effects which make them the right viagra discount sales choice for men.
M.B. - To participate in an exhibition, artists have to submit their portfolio to be reviewed from a strict criteria on quality and innovation. Second step, if selected, would be an interview to physically review the works. If artists fulfill the criteria, there would be a possibility to be included in a curated upcoming show that conceptually relates to that specific work. Not all artists will be included or selected, and not all works will fulfill the criteria. Selection sometimes is a tough task for the curator. The shows produced in the gallery must be on the highest level, and they always are based on a curatorial concept.
A.K. - I know you created an initiative to promote art collecting. Can you share with us what it consists of?
M.B. - CVAP focuses on new collectors and helps them to develop their collection based on an artistic criteria. People motivated by the arts visit Wynwood with curiosity, questions and a great desire to buy, but not knowing how and who to buy. CVAP helps them to understand art and helps them to make their best investment on the most valuable work. Besides that, as a curator I have created art visits to studios and art museums and private art courses on how to understand art for those interested to go further in their knowledge of the art world.
A.K. - What are your upcoming plans as an institution?
M.B. - CVAP is preparing curatorial proposals to art museums to broaden the art opportunities of the artists. We are also preparing our participation in international art fairs.
Milagros Bello, Ph.D., curator and director at Curator’s Voice Art Projects. Photo: Mariano Costa Peuser.
A.K. - How has the Miami artistic scene changed in the last 15 years? How do you envision the future? Is there more activity during the year beyond Art Basel week?
M.B. - Miami currently is an explosive epicenter of art during Art Basel season and after the Art Basel season. The number of great galleries continue to grow not only in Wynwood, but also at older art districts such as Coral Gables and new districts such as Downtown, Little Haiti and Little River. Miami is just marking its place in the art world nationwide. No doubt this is an epic artistic moment for our city. For the upcoming Miami Art Week, Curator’s Voice gallery will present a large group show with the artists I represent. The exhibition is entitled “Premium,” opens on November 21st and will be on view until January 16th.
Curator’s Voice Art Projects (CVAP) is located at 299 NW 25th Street, Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL 33127 / Phone: 786 357 0568 / www.curatorsvoice.com / Milabello@aol.com
Ashley Knight is an arts writer based in Miami.
