Artistically Social
Amy Rosenberg Goes Gospel. Hallelujah!
Amy Rosenberg is an attorney and arts advocate who founded the Overtown Music Project and the Arsht Center’s young patrons group. She is the co-founder of the environmental non-profit Dream in Green. Amy is a member of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and sits on the Board of the Funding Arts Network. She also serves on the New World Symphony’s Friends Committee as well as The Wolfsonian-FIU’s Visionaries Committee.
Before I attended Celebrity Autobiography at the Arsht Center, I counted Pablo Neruda, Rumi and Walt Whitman as my favorite poets. (Truth be told, Jay Z is in that mix too). Now, thanks to Celebrity Autobiography, I can add Suzanne Somers of Thighmaster fame to that exalted list of poets.
In Celebrity Autobiography, an ensemble of comedic actors read from the actual memoirs of celebrities. Saturday Night Live’s Rachel Dratch read from Touch Me: The Poems of Suzanne Somers. I had no idea that someone who hocked a product that promised “shapelier hips and thighs” could be so deep. The words of former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee also made it into the performance. The story of the glam metal rocker’s first encounter with Heather Locklear will remain burned in my mind. Time magazine even called the book “As good as the gold in Goldschlager.”
The Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO) and Miami International Airport partnered for Music In Unsuspected Spaces in the Airport’s South Terminal. The 90 piece orchestra was accompanied by Russian born virtuoso Yury Shadrin at the piano and was under the masterful conduction of Eduardo Marturet. The performance certainly gave unsuspecting travelers a warm Miami welcome.
An energized and eclectic crowd gathered for the MAM Contemporaries Social, hosted in collaboration with 10×10 Miami. The program featured 10 slides by 10 creative Miamians including the emcee for the evening, Brandi Reddick of Art in Public Places, creative powerhouse Stephanie Ansin of PlayGround Theatre and the wonderfully out-of the-box graphic designers Julian Martin and Erika Morales of Lemon Yellow.
Whenever I have friends in town, I take them to the magical west end of Lincoln Road to experience that fabulous exoskeleton of a parking lot, Shake Shack and the Taschen store. Speaking of Taschen, the Summer Warehouse Sale is set to begin the weekend of June 17th- June 19th. Get your literary on and make sure to get gifts for friends. Cocktail table books are my new go-to gift for hosts and hostesses.
Nothing tastes better with green tea than art. I learned this at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Tea for Tuesday event. The event takes place every month in season on the second Tuesday. Guests are invited to participate in a mini-exhibition tour and tea tasting sponsored by The Gypsy Tea Shop. I brought my Mom, who was beyond excited to see the work of her favorite Louises- Nevelson and Bourgeouis.
My own non-profit organization, the Overtown Music Project, hosted a Gospel Brunch at Greater Bethel AME Church in Overtown. The organization celebrates the music, history and spirit of Overtown in its heyday. The event included songs and speeches by Overtown musicians and luminaries including Bobby Stringer and Margaret Reynolds, Ray Fauntroy, Martin Luther King’s former driver, Toni Williams and Gary and Dorothy Fields. Dave Lawrence read from the works of Langston Hughes and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Luther Campbell and Commissioners Dunn, Sarnoff and Gort all made appearances.
Until next time….
Amy Rosenberg is an attorney and arts advocate who founded the Overtown Music Project and the Arsht Center’s young patrons group. She is the co-founder of the environmental non-profit Dream in Green. Amy is a member of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and sits on the Board of the Funding Arts Network. She also serves on the New World Symphony’s Friends Committee as well as The Wolfsonian-FIU’s Visionaries Committee.
