Artistically Social with Amy Rosenberg

How I Art Baseled

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.

What do you do when you have a celebrity-studded, money-drunk bacchanal and the world’s most venerated art fair in your midst? You channel Aerosmith’s power ballad “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” amp up your vitamin regimen and coffee intake and avoid sleep.

This year, Art Basel took us by land, by air and by sea. Art had no longitudinal borders in Basel’s 11th year in Miami Beach. If you gazed heavenward, you witnessed “Plane Text,” the Morgan’s Group sponsored project that featured artist Mel Bochner’s “Blah blah blah blah blah…” and Jack Pierson’s “We’re rich we can do what we want” streaming from behind planes. (Much could be made of both statements but I’ll leave them open to your interpretation.)

Had you made it onto the Celebrity Cruises new Reflection ship, you would have witnessed a performance piece by Bert Rodriguez – Bert in duplicate. Two identically dressed Berts communicating with passengers and Isaac the bartender on the Lido Deck. (There was no Lido Deck and unfortunately, no Isaac either.)

On the art fair end of things, I saw Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art’s Kianga Ellis at the brand spanking new Untitled fair on the beach with her Australian artist boyfriend, Peter Daverington. I had the chance to experience Untitled on opening night and saw the lovely Marcia Martinez and Liza Gallardo Walton amidst the crush of people.

Contrary to popular belief, art is not just for those among us with disposable income in the nine figures. Wonderful works could be snapped up for less than $5000 at NADA, Seven, Art Africa and even Art Basel itself. Art Africa was in Overtown this year and featured evocative works from Faith Ringgold and the Africa Artists’ Foundation. (I nearly bought a 7 foot tall mirrored sculpture by a Nigerian artist.) I also had the chance to see Clarence Woods, Barron Channer and Mikhaile Solomon.

The Pop Up Piano fundraiser was one of the highlights of the party scene this year. The event celebrated the Maestro from the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra, the only African symphony in the world, and featured a performance by piano player Elu (his Wonder Woman arm bands still haunt me in a good way). I had wonderful encounters with Crystal Connor, Kirk Wagar, Nathalie Cadet-James, Marc Goodman and Jessica Wade Pfeffer.

This year, I was unceremoniously axed from the Chanel guest list after having received an invitation and confirmation. However, that did not throw me into despair. I managed to make it to a few swanky parties. White Cube’s annual beach party drew celebrities and hangers-on alike and featured a performance by the band Wild Belle. Book signings were the rage. Pharrell, Terry Richardson and Bruce Weber all had hordes at their signings.

I also snagged an invitation to collectors Kathryn and Dan Mikesell’s party at their home and an invitation to dine with Russell Simmons at Allison Weiss Brady’s home.

The art and the parties were both exhilarating and exhausting. I’m ready for next year.

Until then…