Art Deco Weekend Classic Car Show

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Art Deco Weekend is the longest running free community cultural festival in South Beach Miami. Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers teamed up to offer free demos and sketch walks during the festival. The Breakwater Hotel was one of the buildings that was on the sketch walk I hosted. Walking up and down Ocean Avenue I became infatuated with this car parked in front of the Breakwater.

The owner sat in a lawn chair behind his car and other car owners chatted with him for the longest time. A guy and his girlfriend sat on the grass in front of me while I sketched. When they got back up, the guy asked what I was doing. I think he suspected I might be drawing his girl. When he saw the sketch of the car he offered a compliment. He turned to his girlfriend and brushed her butt with his hand saying, “Your dirty.” He did this three more times, laughing as they walked away. At the outdoor patio across the street, guests were enjoying drinks and “The Best Cuban Food” at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine South Beach which is also known as the “Cathedral of Cuban Mojitos.” Now I kind of wish I had ordered a drink to sip while I sketched.

Breakwater Hotel

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The Breakwater Hotel (940 Ocean Drive Miami Beach Fl) was built in 1939 by Anton  Skislewicz. This was the first stop on the sketch walk I hosted along with Gay Geiger. At the start she offered a quick sumation of the history of Art Deco architecture. Her talk was made a bit challenging because all the old cars parked along ocean drive for the car show drove by honking horns revving their engines.

Art Deco was born in Europe, first introduced in 1925 at “Exposition des Arts Decoratifs” in

Paris and flourished internationally from the 1920s – 30s. Its influence is derived from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Mayan motifs. Also, by Cubist paintings and the Machine Age. In 1920s gambling, booze, and prostitution that came down came down to Miami with New York crime lords who invested in the hotels, were where illegal activities happened. A 1926 Hurricane wiped out and changed much of South Beach’s architecture from Mediterranean Revival to Art Deco. Miami took Art Deco and added Tropical and Natuical Deco Motifs. Motifs include frozen fountains (splashes of water frozen in time), eyebrows (ledges above windows brought with tech of reinforced concrete).

In the 1930s Henry Hohauser added curves and streamlining, by 40s Deco was over and the 1950 to 60s gave way to Miami Modernist (MiMo). Anything built after 1965 is considered “New Construction”.

The rooftop terrace of the Breakwater was the location of Bruce Weber’s early-1980s photo shoot for Calvin Klein Underwear which sparked world-wide interest in the Art Deco District as a backdrop for

the fashion industry. The Breakwater’s perfectly balanced A-B-A facade helps make the

central design even more pronounced. The hotel has etched plate glass windows which are done in the Floridiana style complete with flamingos, palm trees, and tropical terrain. It was purchased and refinished by Jordache Jeans in 2011.

What is great about Urban Sketching is that each artist has their own aesthetic and approach when sketching. The same subject might be interpreted by architects and artists with widely different and equally interesting results. I didn’t offer any insights or instruction except for artist who asked for feedback. I experimented and worked faster than usual since we only has an hour at each of 3 stops. Results were unexpected and fun.

21st Annual Car Show at the Art Deco Weekend.

Posted on by Thor

On day two of the Miami and Orlando Urban Sketchers crawl at South Beach in Miami, most artists were set up a block away sketching an Art Deco building on Collins Avenue. I wasn’t thrilled about just sketching a building, so I walked towards the crowds and commotion on Ocean Drive. I decide to sketch a long line of cars on display. Two Mini Coopers were at the front of the line. Pam Schwartz joined me and also sketched one of the cars in front of the Sury Hotel. The owner of the second Mini Cooper in line looked over my shoulder and was pleased to see his car in the sketch.

Pam was still busy when I had finished and I decided to rest in the shade of a palm tree and watch her work. I was amazed at how many people stopped to look over her shoulder. That must happen while I am working as well and I seldom notice. One young girl in ballet tights stopped to watch and she stood right in front of Pam blocking her view.  I have had people do that as a joke as if posing might get them in the sketch, but I think this girl was oblivious to the fact that she was blocking the scene Pam was sketching.

We stopped at the cafe in the hotel in front of us and ordered a huge iced margarita to split. A parade of giant puppets began to dance its way down the street. They were about 15 feet high. There was a merman whose arms dangled listlessly at his sides but he danced and leaned over to look at the crowds. Charlie Chaplin walked arm in arm with Marilyn Monroe.

Other artists started to explore the festival, and we watched them sketch as we sipped our drink. All the artists gathered in about an hour to share their work in front of a courthouse about two blocks away. The Miami Urban Sketchers had a rubber stamp that could be used to place the Miami Urban Sketch logo on each sketch. We then took a huge group photo and walked across the street to a vintage silver streamlined diner. Sitting near the couple from Puerto Rico, I got to learn about their struggles after hurricane Maria.