Miami Dade College presents Alhambra Orchestra: America 250 With a Miami Twist

 "AMERICA 250 WITH A MIAMI TWIST"
SATURDAY, JUNE I3, 2026,  3:00 pm 
FREEDOM TOWER, 600 BISCAYNE BLVD, MIAMI

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, Miami Dade College (MDC) and Alhambra Orchestra have partnered for "America 250 with a Miami Twist," a family-friendly multimedia show about Miami's unique history, with amazing historical images, dramatic orchestral music, and fascinating narration, at MDC's Freedom Tower, the National Historic Landmark located at 600 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami.  From the Everglades to luxury hotels, the Tequesta people to waves of immigrants and refugees, and swampland to international metropolis, attendees of all ages will experience the remarkable evolution of Miami into a thriving multicultural city. The one-hour presentation will combine live orchestral performance, narration and multimedia visuals to bring Miami's rich and diverse history to life inside the iconic Freedom Tower. The event will take place Saturday, June 13, from 3 to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Please show your interest with this FORM.  Free parking will be available in the MDC Garage, located in Building 7. Campus map and parking location: https://www.mdc.edu/wolfson/campus-information/directions.aspx                                                           For more information contact Viviam López at vlopez4@mdc.edu, 305-237-3225   To request special accommodations, contact Laura Rodríguez at lmontoya@mdc.edu, 305-237-3771

DETAILS: WHAT:  MDC and Alhambra Orchestra Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. with Multimedia Show   WHEN:                Saturday, June 13, 3 – 4 p.m., doors open at 2:15 p.m.   WHERE:             MDC's Freedom Tower                                 600 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL   ADMISSION:      Admission is free until capacity, first come first served.  Please help planners by submitting this FORM.

Internationally Collected Autistic Artist Vito Bonanno's Artwork in the Corporate Collections of AMAZON and Google

Internationally Collected Mixed Media Artist VITO BONANNO

Vito Bonanno is an internationally collected artist who lives and works on the Connecticut shoreline. He has exhibited in solo exhibitions at Spectrum Miami during Art Basel in Miami, FL, Umbrella Arts Gallery, NYC and Akus Gallery, Willimantic, CT.

Internationally collected artist Vito Bonanno taps into the daily emotional and social challenges of living with autism, placing his innermost feelings onto canvas. The New England-based artist's work is image and concept-driven and embedded in his personal philosophy. His art contains the essence of his life, feelings, thoughts, and dreams, coupled with objects or topics that "get stuck in his head", including traffic lights, grids, ceiling fans, graffiti, and pop culture. Corporate clients include AMAZON, Google, and The Hartford.

Bonanno taps into the daily emotional and social challenges of living with autism, placing his innermost feelings onto canvas. He is an award-winning, world-famous artist with a career spanning back to his childhood. The artist has participated in numerous art fairs, as well as national and international exhibitions, in addition to many art shows and high profile events during Art Basel Miami Beach - such as a past NIKE pop-up in Wynwood during Miami Art Week, as well as traveling in an art van Truck'N With Vito! at Umbrella Arts Gallery in NYC's lower east side, selling his art and spreading awareness about being an artist with autism.

He unveiled his first Solo Exhibition, 'Unfiltered V: Vito Bonanno Riding with the Train Girls', in January 2012 at Akus Gallery at Eastern CT State University which included works on paper, canvas, video pieces, a student-artist interactive mural project, and installations. Akus Gallery Director, Elizabeth Peterson stated, "The characters, objects, and ideas that inhabit Vito Bonanno's work act and interact in striking ways. Caught within the grids and map-like structures he imagines, they are often in a struggle between multiple worlds. He has found a way to tap in the intensity of focus and insight afforded him through autism to unleash a formidable creative power and vision." His winning pieces, ‘Ghost Town on Davenport Avenue’ was exhibited at the S. Dillon Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and then was part of a traveling exhibition that went on a two year nationwide tour of university and independent galleries. Additionally, a second winning piece titled ‘Southhaven People’, was on exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. before also partaking in the nationwide traveling exhibition that ran through September 2011.

He is one of only 16 artists in the United States selected for a prestigious exhibition of previous awardees from the VSA Emerging Artists Program in the Kennedy Center Hall of Nations with sponsorship from the Volkswagen Group of America. As part of the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the ADA and 40th Anniversary of VSA in 2015, the exhibition included the work of select artists who represented the past 13 years of the VSA Emerging Young Artist Program; Curated by Stephanie Moore, she chose Bonanno's 'Daffy Goes to Waterbury with a Ninja Turtle' and 'SECR Toilet' to be part of the exhibition.

Vito is aligned with ArtLifting, which is a non-for-profit art organization that empowers artists living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork. ArtLifting is about creating opportunity, empowerment, and validation. This collaboration opened many new and exciting opportunities for the artist, which includes his work in Google's corporate collection, with art hanging in their Leesburg, VA offices, as well as Amazon, for one of their corporate buildings in Seattle, Washington.

Bonanno was diagnosed with PDD/Autism just before his 4th birthday. Because he was language delayed, his parents and teachers developed strategies that tapped into his high visual acuity, utilizing storyboard styles to relay academic and social information. He was also encouraged to draw in storyboard format to express his feelings. The storyboard grid remains prominent in his work and studio preparation today and is a poignant reminder of a boy who was trapped in his own mind.

The New England-based artist's work is image and concept-driven and embedded in his personal philosophy. His art contains the essence of his life, feelings, thoughts, and dreams, coupled with objects or topics that "get stuck in his head", including traffic lights, grids, ceiling fans, graffiti, and pop culture. For more information about this artist, for inquiries, or to commission work contact vito@vitobonanno.com / visit www.vitobonanno.com

Artist Vito Bonanno pictured beside his work at Six Summit Gallery NYC

#ArtNews --> NSU Art Museum has purchased a new sculpture from South Florida artist Piero Penizzotto, in the upcoming exhibition, 'Close to Home'

 

Piero Penizzotto, Kings of Comedy (Chris, Imani, Bernard, Calvin, Dre), 2024. Papier-mâché, foam and acrylic. Photography by Oriol Tarridas. Collection NSU Art Museum, purchased with funds provided by the Susan S. Miller Acquisition Fund.

NSU Art Museum New Purchase NSU Art Museum has purchased a new sculpture from South Florida artist Piero Penizzotto. This sculpture will be in the upcoming exhibition, Close to Home, which opens on June 7. This purchase was made possible thanks to the Susan S. Miller Acquisition Fund. Learn more here.

Experience 'Monumentalizing the Trace' at The Frank Pembroke Pines, the first solo exhibition by the collaborative artist duo TREIZMAN + ZURILLA

Monumentalizing the Trace by TREIZMAN + ZURILLA, formed by Miami-based artists Denise Treizman and Julia Zurilla, OPENS on May 14th and is on view at The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery through August 29, 2026.

Monumentalizing the Trace presents the first solo exhibition by the collaborative artist duo TREIZMAN + ZURILLA, formed by Miami-based artists Denise Treizman and Julia Zurilla, on view at The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery from May 14 through August 29, 2026. Conceived as a continuous installation that unfolds across the gallery, the exhibition transforms the space into an immersive environment where image, material, and architecture converge. Art lovers and the community are invited to attend the Opening Reception for Monumentalizing the Trace on Thursday, May 14th from 6–9pm at The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery. This event is free & open to the public, located at 601 City Center Way in Pembroke Pines, Florida 33025.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

Working across video, sculpture, and spatial intervention, Treizman and Zurilla construct a dynamic dialogue between analog and digital processes, presence and absence, permanence and impermanence. Familiar elements appear displaced and reconfigured, inviting viewers to reconsider the ways objects, images, and fragments accumulate meaning over time. Rather than presenting the monument as a fixed symbol of permanence, the artists shift attention toward the trace—the fragment, the remainder, the subtle evidence of transformation. In doing so, Monumentalizing the Trace proposes that what endures after change—the residual mark, the fleeting image, the material echo—may itself become a form of monument.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

The collaboration between Treizman and Zurilla emerged from a shared interest in tension, contradiction, and material interplay as generative forces. What began as an experimental encounter during Stile Tale at Satellite Art Show in 2023 has evolved into an ongoing artistic investigation into how two distinct practices can remain intact while producing a shared visual language. Their work embraces paradox as a creative engine, placing opposites in productive relation: material and immaterial, analog and digital, fragility and structure, excess and restraint.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

This investigation has taken form in immersive installations such as Coincidentia Oppositorum (2023), DREAMCATCHER (infinity loop) (2024), and Luminous Vacancy (2025). Through these environments, TREIZMAN + ZURILLA approach collaboration not as fusion, but as a dynamic space where difference becomes the catalyst for new aesthetic and conceptual territories.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

Denise Treizman (Santiago, Chile) is a Miami-based artist whose practice combines repurposed materials, handcrafted elements, and remnants of mass consumption to create immersive sculptural installations. Her work explores systems of accumulation, transformation, and material memory. Treizman has presented solo exhibitions at institutions including the Wiregrass Museum of Art, Coral Springs Museum of Art, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago, and has participated in group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. She has completed residencies at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, MASS MoCA, and NARS Foundation, among others. Recent recognitions include the South Florida Cultural Consortium Award (2024), the Oolite Arts Ellies Creator Award (2025), and the No Vacancy Public Art Award (2025). She holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and is a resident artist at Laundromat Art Space in Miami.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

Julia Zurilla (Caracas, Venezuela) is a Miami-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of memory, displacement, and belonging. Working with 8 mm film, digital video, photography, and generative text, she constructs fragmented narratives that move fluidly between analog and digital worlds. Zurilla has received several awards, including The Ellies Cinematic Award (2025), the Green Space Miami Open Call Award (2025), and the No Vacancy Public Art Award (2024). Her work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Galería de Arte Nacional (Venezuela), MAC Lima (Peru), Coral Gables Museum, CIFO Miami, and Americas Society in New York, and is held in several private and institutional collections. She holds a BFA and MFA from IUESAPAR and is a resident artist at Laundromat Art Space.

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

About The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery

The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery is a contemporary art space operated by the City of Pembroke Pines in South Florida. The gallery presents rotating exhibitions by emerging and established artists working across disciplines, alongside dynamic public programs designed to foster dialogue between artists and the community.

The community can learn more about the City of Pembroke Pines’ latest Events by subscribing to Pembroke Pines Media on YouTube, to NewsFlash, a twice a month digital newsletter at www.ppines.com/Newsflash, by reading the city’s digital newspaper City Connect and website via www.ppines.com, checking the city’s digital signage, or by visiting the City’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityofpembrokepines, and @cityofppines for Twitter and Instagram. Residents with Comcast can view Pembroke Pines Media programming on Channel 78.


For more information visit www.thefrankgallery.org
Follow The Frank Gallery on Instagram @thefrankpembrokepines

Monumentalizing the Trace, 2026. Exhibition view, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery. Photograph by Rafael Núñez. Courtesy of the City of Pembroke Pines.

Discover Art Exhibitions on view at the Bakehouse Art Complex: featuring Artists Luján Candria & Sterling Rook

Explore current exhibitions on view at The Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood, featuring two artists with compelling solo exhibitions currently on view in Miami— each engaging memory, material, and personal history in distinct and fruitful ways: Luján Candria & Sterling Rook.

Luján Candria

Miami-based Argentine artist Luján Candria works across a wide range of media to create introspective works that explore memory, reminiscence, and oblivion. Luján often uses the repetition and juxtaposition of images to create intimate and poetic narratives imbued with nostalgia.

Luján has been a resident artist at Bakehouse since 2021. To experience more of her work, visit her studio here at Bakehouse, or see Still More Fragile, her solo exhibition currently on view at Faena Art through May 3.

Sterling Rook

Miami-based artist Sterling Rook works across sculpture and fiber, using materials such as forged steel, handmade rope, and organic elements to explore ancestry, craft, and material memory. Drawing from a lineage of textile and fiber traditions on both sides of his family, Rook approaches art-making as both a generative and regenerative process, connecting personal and cultural histories across time.

Sterling currently has work on view at Tunnel Projects as part of his solo exhibition Shupingagua, on view through Saturday, April 25. Don't miss this last opportunity to experience the exhibition!

Learn more about Luján and Sterling's practices, their growth in the studio residency program at Bakehouse, and their solo exhibitions currently on view!

NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale presents Rob Pruitt's Flea Market

 

FREE ADMISSION NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale brings Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market back to Fort Lauderdale for its encore on Sunday, April 26. The internationally renowned contemporary artist has been staging his nomadic flea markets around the world since 1999, in locations from New York to London’s Tate Gallery and at NSU Art Museum in 2021. Pruitt is inviting local artists to sell their art and wares during the one-day happening, which will be held at NSU Art Museum (One East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL). Taking the form of a traditional open-air bazaar, Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market is an opportunity to meet artists and take home an original artwork in a relaxed atmosphere. By highlighting bartering and haggling as both economic and performative, and featuring a diverse array of goods from artwork to housewares, Pruitt’s Flea Market blurs the line between art and commerce.

RSVP NOW

Date: April 26 Time: Noon - 5 pm Price: Free to the public Location: NSU Art Museum, One East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 United States

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS Kevin Arrow Aaron Bondaroff / A1A Chris Byrd Daniel Clapp Donna Haynes Malik Isaac Amanda Keeley, Katelyn Kopenhaver, Gio Navas / EXILE Projects Luba Kladienko-Ramirez - JuanCarlos rLora / Art to Save Lives  Philip Lique Emilio Martinez / Fred Snitzer Jed-Lee Metayer Vincent Miranda Luna Palazzolo, Alicia Bilbao, Fharid LaTorre - Tunnel Projects Rob Pruitt Patricio Rodriguez and Horst Kohlem Sterling Rook Lulu and Oliver Sanchez / Swampspace Ingrid Schindall / Shared Print Fac Rachel Simon Addison Wolff Aaron Young

SAVEARTSPACE: New Open Call For Art! "Motherhood" Curated by Diana 'Didi' Contreras

New Open Call For Art! SaveArtSpace: Motherhood Curator: Diana "Didi" Contreras Location: Miami, FL Open call ends: June 1, 2026

SaveArtSpace is proud to present Motherhood, a public art exhibition on bus shelter ad space in Miami, FL, opening July 17, 2026, curated by Diana "Didi" Contreras. We invite artists of all backgrounds to submit work about motherhood. This can be about being a mother, having a mother, missing a mother, or defining it in your own way. We welcome all styles and perspectives—personal stories, cultural experiences, or abstract ideas. Motherhood can be loving, complicated, joyful, or challenging, and we want to see all sides of it. We invite artists of all ages and talents to submit their artwork between April 20 and June 1, 2026 in order to be considered for the exhibition. This is an opportunity to have your work placed on bus shelter ad space in Miami, FL.

Learn More