Copper Arts Complex

North Miami’s cultural and educational arts hub is home to Casa Fe, Casa Esperanza and Casa Caridad.

Esperanza is undergoing construction with programming expected to begin in 2023.

What: An art hub, comprised of a cultural center, art gardens, residences and galleries 

Where: North Miami, Florida 

Purpose: To bring together artists from all over the world to promote diversity and dialogue through the arts in the community

Mission: Creating a multi-functional space through 3 phases, contributing to the growing arts and cultural district in the community of North Miami

The Caridad Property 1 LLC has a 3 phase plan in place.

Overview of the 3 properties:

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Walking distance from the properties is Griffing Park, which is a 5.4-acre triangular green space created in 1946. Named after Arthur Mertlow Griffing, an early local developer and co-founder of North Miami in 1926, this neighborhood parkland is divided by Griffing Boulevard between NE 123rd Street and W. Dixie Highway. This park, land for a potential future amphitheater, accents the art hub scene of North Miami and will be an asset to a cultural center.

Phase 1: Cultural Educational Center

Copperbridge Foundation Headquarters 

The Copperbridge Foundation headquarters will be an art center for the community featuring arts from the Caribbean and Latin America. Phase 1 houses the Foundation which will bring people together through all forms of art, including visual arts, music, theater, dance and architecture. While each phase is being built, there will be active space for use in one of the three properties. Other groups will be able to use this space and collaborate with Copperbridge Foundation. 

Projected image of Phase 1:

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Through the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), we hope to receive a matching grant that is designed to support the growth and expansion of businesses. This grant helps return properties to their full potential through a matching grant for renovations and improvements. We are currently in the application process and working with the City of North Miami for Phase 1 and they are open for discussion and supporting Phases 2 and 3. Due to COVID-19, the 3 architectural bids we have obtained have been on hold for the city to review. 

Property address: 12500 NE 4 Ave, North Miami, FL 33161

Year built: 1920

Lot size: 11,625 Sq.Ft

Zoning: R-6 : High Density Residential

                     3800-Multi-Family-22-37 U/A

Current overview of parking lot (left) and the Caridad property (right):

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Projected floor plan layout for cultural center:

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Phase 2: Parking Lot Property

Property address: 345 NE 125 St, North Miami, FL 33161

Year bought: 2019

Lot size: 9,375 Sq.Ft

Zoning: R-6 : High Density Residential

                     3800-Multi-Family-22-37 U/A

 

The lot of land West of the Caridad property will serve as a parking lot for the cultural center shown in Phase 1.  

Since Phase 1 will need to be completed first (before Phase 2 is finished), there are temporary plans for the lot of land. 

Future temporary plans include but not limited to: 

    • Pre-manufactured containers/pods 
    • Antique market 
    • Farmers market 
    • Garden
    • Food truck site

The property would be the site for a four-story building, thus completing Phase 2. 

Use for each level:

First Level: Parking Garage 

Second Level: Contemporary art galleries

Third Level: Residential apartments

Fourth Level: Penthouse apartment

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Example:

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Vision: 

The Univista Insurance Building, constructed by Oppenheim Architecture & Design, is an example of what the end of Phase 2 would reflect. The design of the building is the inspiration for the parking lot property of Phase 2. An open concept allows for beautiful contemporary artists galleries and residential space. 

Located: 528 NW 7th Avenue Miami, FL

Phase 3: The Outdoor Experience 

Fe Building Property

Property address: 12418 NE 4 Ave, Miami, FL 33161

Year built: 1927

Lot size: 16,875 Sq.Ft

Zoning: R-6 : High Density Residential

                     3800-Multi-Family-22-37 U/A

In order to help preserve the rich history of North Miami, the existing building structure will remain the same and will be used as housing spaces. 

The backyard of the residence will be a container property, housing artists studios, while also being a versatile multi-functional space that includes but not limited to: 

  • Farmers market 
  • Craft market
  • Artists residences 
  • Pop up containers 
  • Garden oasis 
  • Food truck site 
  • Live music
  • Gypsy Shop
  • Spiritual gatherings 

Intentions are to create a welcoming, open and lively space that fuels the North Miami art hub and brings the community together as well as create an experience. 

 

Inspiration for Fe property comes from many sites around Miami, including: 

The Wynwood Yard was a hub of food and culture in Miami that provided an all-day hangout space bringing locals food, fitness, music and other cultural activities. Hand-picked culinary concepts, a pop-up bar, and an edible garden were anchored within a vibrant outdoor setting. 

Midtown Garden Center is a local family owned business and not only a popular place to purchase plants for your home but also hang out, grab a bite to eat and pick up a bouquet of fresh cut flowers.

Gro Wynwood is a 18,000 square foot pop-up event, bar, and food venue centered around sustainability that offers fun for the whole family. The shipping container bars are centered about a reclaimed-wood patio and food trucks. 

Center for Subtropical Affairs is an ecological learning center in Little River that provides jobs and career training in sustainable development to the community. It also is a homegrown venue for live music, relaxation and social gatherings.

MiMo Garden Center is a space to recharge, connect and become one with nature in the oasis. This is a calm space to explore, purchase plants or enjoy a meal.

Microtheater Miami presents original 15 minute plays in English and Spanish inside shipping containers, creating a unique experience. People of all ages can enjoy the plays, food, and drinks.

Miami’s Upper East Side is a 60,000 square feet of commercial and residential space including the restoration of a 1936 building to feature 4,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. The building houses a neighborhood eatery, rooftop terrace with an old-fashioned feel and an outdoor cafe.

North Miami 

North Miami is home to over 62,000 residents and has a lot of potential to become the next big cultural hub of Miami. Slowly, new projects are being proposed and introduced in the city, such as a murals project. The art scene that has taken over Miami started years ago. The movement of cultural and educational art hubs has gone in a “full circle” around Miami. The MOCA museum is the anchor of North Miami and around it there is a movement for the murals. The city is very encouraged to promote public arts and help bring the community together through the arts. With this being said, they would be open to the projects Copperbridge Foundation wants to build in North Miami. 

North Miami over the last few years has become one of the most desirable neighborhoods for investing and living in Miami. Developers have also followed the trend of heading North and thinking outside of the popular areas such as Wynwood and South Beach. The Copper Arts Hub, a micro arts hub, wants to embrace North Miami’s rich history rather than destroying it. This 3 phase plan will be a way to enhance the surrounding neighborhood, not take over.  

Copperbridge Foundation believes this will be a fantastic addition to the growing arts and cultural district in North Miami and we are happy to cooperate to make this a success for our community. We want to add to the history of the 80’s that started the circle of artistic renovation in Miami. We can assure that the facilities will be efficient for public visits (i.e. public water, police and fire protection, handicapped access, sewers and transportation).

Neighboring businesses including Dollar General and Presidente Supermarket, as well as residents in nearby buildings, have expressed great enthusiasm for our goals in creating a cultural educational center in North Miami.

The Copper Arts Hub Committee

The Copper Arts Hub Committee

geo

George Darder 

Geo Darder, Founder and President of Copperbridge Foundation, has an exciting history of entrepreneurship, international relations and event planning. These talents, combined with his passion for arts, architecture, culture and heritage, resulted in the creation of Copperbridge Foundation.

Through Copperbridge, Geo has produced countless events and programs, both locally and internationally, and published books as well as documentaries, all with the mission of creating dialogue through the arts. Locally in Miami, he has brought international arts to the community through week-long Copper Fests, concerts and arts workshops. He has worked on several international film festivals and organized multiple architecture conferences, including the American Institute of Architects Committee on Design in Cuba and Chile and the World Congress on Art Deco in Cuba and Argentina. Among his publications are the Havana Art Deco Architectural Guide by Dr. Maria Elena Martín as well as the catalog and documentary for the most talked about exhibit of the past three Havana Biennials, Detras del muro. His clients include several universities, film and art societies such as Sundance Institute, as well as many Hollywood celebrities.

Darder has resided in North Miami most of his life and attended Miami Central Highschool. At just 21 years old, Darder had a business of his own. 

Previous Residences of Geo Darder: 

828 NW 101 ST, Miami, FL 33147

1031 NW 102 ST, Miami, FL 33147

1190 NW 124 ST, North Miami, FL 33168

1085 NE 131 ST, North Miami, FL 33161

12500 NE 4TH AVE, North Miami, FL 33161

12418 NE 4TH AVE, Miami, FL 33161

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Raquel Vallejo

A multi-hyphenate, Raquel Vallejo has approached her life and professional pursuits – including event planner, fashion model, art collector, cultural guru, sommelier, curator, rainmaker, TV host, strategist and  fundraiser – with a distinct multicultural flair.

Raquel is currently Curator and Project Manager of 352walls, an expanding public art project she launched in 2015 for the City of Gainesville, Florida. She is also a studio jewelry designer who assembles one of a kind, hand-made pieces that can be found in museum boutiques, art galleries and exclusive shops. While most of her contemporaries are settling down, Raquel continues to reinvent herself. She enjoys connecting people, dreaming up new projects, traveling the globe, expanding her culinary talent, keeping fit and gardening in her historic hometown, Micanopy.

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Cheryl Jacobs

As Executive Vice President of AIA Miami and the Miami Center for Architecture & Design, Cheryl Jacobs directs both organizations in the development and implementation of programming that promotes architecture, design and the built environment. Cheryl works closely with both organizations’ exceptional volunteer boards to create forums, seminars and events that improve awareness of the industry and that build strong community and member connectivity.

With 20+ years in association and nonprofit leadership experience, Cheryl has an exceptional network of high-level contacts in the architecture and real estate industry in South Florida. She is a strong and inspirational leader with a talent for recruiting and motivating volunteers, and has a passion for the creative industries. 

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Sam Blatt

Sam Blatt is an Economic Development Director for the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, serving since August 2019. In his role as Director in the Economic Development Department, Sam is focused on increasing quality jobs and investment in Miami-Dade County through business attraction, retention and expansion efforts. Prior to his tenure at the Beacon Council, Sam was the Economic Development Manager for the City of North Miami, Florida. As a leading millennial economic development professional, Sam is focused on adapting the economic development field to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. 

Sam is an active member of United Way of Miami-Dade, the County’s largest charity organization. He serves on its Public Policy Committee to promote United Way’s policy priorities at the local, state and federal levels. Additionally, Sam is a member of the Young Leaders Executive Committee, the leadership arm of United Way of Miami-Dade’s Young Leaders, a group focused on engaging Miami’s under 40 professionals in the charity’s good works.

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George Neary

George Neary has created, and is currently operating, a tour company, Tours “r” Us, specializing in curated tours that concentrate on the historic communities of Miami Beach, the historic Art Deco District, MiMo resort architecture; Wynwood, Miami Design District, Little Havana, Little Haiti, Downtown Miami, Historic Overtown, Coconut Grove and beyond. He was previously Associate Vice President of Cultural Tourism for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) from 1998 until his retirement in 2018. He was in charge of the creation and implementation of a new arts and cultural program for Miami-Dade County and directed promotional programs that encouraged and increased visitor attendance at local cultural events and attractions. His job also included creating linkage and partnership between Greater Miami businesses and the arts community. During his tenure. his targets were cultural tourism, heritage tourism and gay & lesbian. 

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Oliver Sanchez 

Oliver Sanchez — founder of Swampspace and a Miami native — is a fabricator and sculptor, helping to build artists’ visions into reality. He has crafted works for Daniel Arsham, Bhakti Baxter, and Bert Rodriguez — among others — earning him the title “Miami’s best-kept secret” by Ocean Drive. Oliver is an architecture major who spent time in New York City during the East Village’s ’80s creative renaissance, working as a graphic designer and finding himself in the heart of a scene that included fellow geniuses like Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His own figurative paintings are as lush, strange and ultimately inspiring as the work showcased at Swampspace.

Copper Arts Hub-Narrative

A welcoming new home in North Miami for community and culture. A catalyst coming at the right time to ignite the arts in North Miami. A vital artistic center that will foster community, creativity and economic activity by boosting the arts in the city. All led by an immigrant raised in North Miami who has forged a thriving international cultural exchange organization and is bringing his experience, knowledge and passion to invest back home.

This is Copper Arts Hub, a community-based cultural center slated to open in 2021 on North Miami’s central corridor of 125th Street, in the historic Griffing Park area. The newest project from Geo Darder’s internationally acclaimed Copperbridge Foundation, Copper Arts Hub will present original programming in visual arts, music, dance, theater and architecture, with exhibits, performances, artist residencies, outdoor celebrations, street murals, and educational programs for children and adults. Copper Arts Hub will be a welcoming place for the North Miami community, and a vibrant cultural resource that will make a vital contribution to the City of North Miami’s plans to re-develop and revitalize the city’s downtown core. The city’s vision has inspired Darder, who was raised in North Miami and started his career there, to bring the Copperbridge Foundation’s international connections, multi-cultural expertise, and community-based vision to the city where he started.

Copper Arts Hub will open in three stages, across three properties that will form a miniature cultural district. Phase 1 will be in two graceful Art Deco buildings facing each other across a courtyard, named Caridad (Charity) and Esperanza (Hope), on 125th Street and NE 4th Avenue, with visual art exhibits, classes and workshops, artist residencies, live events, and the organization’s offices. Phase 2 will unfold at an outdoor lot on the same block, which will initially provide parking and emphasize outdoor programming such as an art garden, farmers and antique markets. Phase 3, slated for the Fe (Faith) property half a block south on 4th Avenue, will see artist studios and residencies in the historic Art Deco single-family home, while the expansive rear garden will host musical and other performances, pop-up art events, container exhibits, craft markets, food trucks and more.

Outdoor programming will be a key feature across Copper Arts Hub’s phases and sites, recognizing the new reality engendered by Covid-19. The Hub will build on the model created by successful and popular outdoor entertainment spaces such as Wynwood Yard, Midtown Garden Center, and Upper Buena Vista, combining innovative pop-up and indoor/outdoor culinary experiences, live music and other performances, and inviting art and design in a beautiful garden setting.

 

Copperbridge – Fostering Culture and Community

Geo Darder founded the non-profit Copperbridge Foundation in 2011 with the mission of fostering culture, community and understanding through international artistic exchange, working primarily with Cuba, Brazil, Haiti and Latin America. In the decade since, Copperbridge has been extraordinarily successful in creating a rich range of cultural experiences in Miami and beyond. Darder’s group has presented the Miami debuts of famed Cuban dance troupes Malpaso and Danzabierta and the U.S. premiere of celebrated theater piece 10 Million; sponsored a major visual art project, Detras del Muro (Behind the Wall), which commissioned Cuban and international artists to create installations on the Malecon, Havana’s seaside promenade, for the 11th, 12th and 13th Havana Bienniales; presented pioneering Afro-Cuban music group Sintesis and famed songwriter Descemer Bueno, co-writer of megahit Bailando; and created programs for the American Association of Architects and the World Congress on Art Deco for conferences in Cuba, Chile, and Argentina.

In 2020, Copperbridge’s 10×10 virtual celebration of its tenth anniversary drew hundreds of participants from across Latin America and the U.S. for panels and conversations on visual art, dance, and architecture. Copperbridge has been featured in the Miami Herald, the New York Times, the Miami New Times, and Dance Magazine.

Darder has made community partnerships and education central to Copperbridge, imbuing its programming with a warm, welcoming spirit and a commitment to creating opportunities for personal interaction that fosters understanding between peoples and cultures. The group’s programs include workshops with visiting and local artists in everything from Afro-Cuban dance and music; crafts such as ceramics and metal-working; and workshops for children in mask-making and murals. Post-performance talkbacks, artist studio visits, and informal celebrations are all part of the Copperbridge DNA. In Miami, the group has partnered with such luminary organizations as the Miami Light Project and Miami Dade College. For its 2017 Copperfest arts festival, its signature Miami event, Copperbridge worked extensively with North Miami and Haitian-American institutions, producing family and Afro-Caribbean music celebrations at MOCA, an exhibit and talk by Haitian photography project Fotokonbit at the Little Haiti Cultural Center; and workshops at WJ Bryan Elementary, Barry University, and the North Miami Public Library.

The values that drive Darder and the Copperbridge Foundation are expressed in the names he gave the Arts Hub properties: Caridad, Esperanza and Fe. “Charity is for giving back,” Darder says. “Hope is for a better tomorrow. And Faith because if you don’t have faith you have nothing. Those are messages to the community.”

 

Geo Darder – Giving Back and Going Back to his Roots

Copper Arts Hub fulfills a personal mission for Darder, bringing together his experience and achievements to give back to his first home.

“This neighborhood has always been part of my life,” Darder says. “I have always believed in community. What do you do with this knowledge? You have to share it. So I’m coming back home. At this stage of my life, where I’ve accumulated experience, property, a bit of wisdom and a sense of belonging, it’s all about bringing whatever I’ve done in my life to this center.”

When Darder’s parents fled Cuba’s communist government for Miami with Darder, a toddler, and his three-year-old brother, they settled in North Miami, where his father started a small construction business and his mother worked in a factory. Darder grew up near Tom Sasso Park, went to Ben Franklin Elementary and Westview Junior High School, rode his bike to every park. Friends and neighbors from North Miami’s rich panoply of cultures – Black, Colombian, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Anglo, Italian-American – imbued him with an appreciation for diversity, in a place where he and his family were welcome.

“When you’re in exile you seek acceptance,” Darder says. “North Miami accepted us. It was home.”

After graduating from Miami Dade College North Darder, who had modeled through high school, started two modeling agencies based in North Miami, with clients that included the hit TV show Miami Vice. After a decade working in architecture and cultural tourism in New York, Cuba, and Brazil, he returned to Miami in 2005 and opened another business, the antiques and new age store Gypsy Tea Shop, in North Miami. He continued investing in the area, buying his childhood best friend’s family home, and the properties that will now become Copper Arts Hub.

With North Miami poised for a revitalization where arts and culture will play a key role, Darder believes he can play a part in giving back to his first home.

“I finally have the opportunity to be part of the positive growth of a city,” Darder says. “I can’t change the world. But I can change this little hub.”

 

North Miami – a Rich Cultural Legacy

Copper Arts Hub will build on North Miami’s rich cultural history, which city leaders are working to reinvigorate.

“The idea is to reintroduce the history of that artistic heritage, the film, the music, to re-introduce that vibrant, forward thinking identity,” says Julie Soimaud, manager of Art in Public Places for the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, or CRA. “We want to create a place that’s a home for the arts, an arts and entertainment city.”

That history starts with major film, TV and music production venues. In the 1960’s, North Miami became home to the Ivan Tors studio, which created the hit TV shows Flipper and Gentle Ben; later, renamed Greenwich Studios by new owners, it handled production of the 80’s TV megahit Miami Vice; as well as made-in-Miami films like Ace Ventura Pet Detective, The Birdcage, Strip Tease, and There’s Something About Mary; numerous telenovelas; and countless music videos by stars like Julio Iglesias, Madonna, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston.

North Miami has a prominent place in pop music through Criteria Studios, one of the most influential music production studios in the country. Artists ranging from Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac and James Brown to Billy Joel, R.E.M., Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Drake and Dr. Dre have recorded and helped Criteria the name The Hit Factory.

North Miami’s famed Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA, was a pioneering space from the moment it opened in 1981 as a small, city-sponsored gallery, moving into its graceful, modernist current home in 1996. The first area museum to present conceptual, performance, environmental and sound art, MOCA was a crucial haven for the kind of contemporary artists and ideas that have transformed Miami into an international art center. Under famed former director Bonnie Clearwater, MOCA was the first museum in Miami-Dade to build a contemporary art collection and a reputation for adventurous, ground-breaking shows with the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Frank Stella, Louise Bourgeois, as well as contemporary exhibits that made it a must-stop venue during Miami Art Week and for a time the most renowned museum in Miami-Dade County. Now led by Chana Bugazad Sheldon, MOCA continues to present powerful exhibitions that speak to art lovers and North Miami’s diverse community.

Artist studios, small galleries and alternative spaces also figure in North Miami’s artistic legacy. In the 90’s, North Miami warehouses provided studio space to famed New York transplant Kenny Scharf, who came out of New York’s graffiti and downtown art scenes; and major Miami artists such as Carol K. Brown and sculptor Robert Thiele; and drawing rising young talent like Daniel Arsham. That independent tradition continues under Thiele and his daughter Kristin Theile, who run Bridge Red Studios, an artist studio and exhibition complex LOCATION whose roster includes Lou Anne Colodny, the founder of MOCA. The independent antique and furniture stores on 125th Street near MOCA, the heart of downtown North Miami, are an insider source for hip 20th century design. 

Creative neighborhoods go through stages. With Wynwood and South Beach increasingly geared towards tourists and commercial ventures, North Miami’s history makes it a top contender to be Miami-Dade’s next leading artistic area.

“North Miami is primed to host a resurgence, a rebirth in art,” says artist and art fabricator Oliver Sanchez, who ran Scharf’s warehouse studio and has worked with a host of visiting and local artists. A veteran instigator of community-powered art scenes, Sanchez, who is on Copper Arts Hub’s Advisory Board, was part of New York’s legendary East Village creative incubator Club 57, and for years has run the vibrant gallery, workshop and multi-generational gathering spot Swampspace in the Design District, where he has nurtured generations of teenage artists from DASH with internships and classes.

As a dynamic new incubator for culture and community in North Miami, Copper Arts Hub will help drive North Miami’s artistic resurgence.


A Civic Partnership – Economic and Community Benefits

Leaders at the City of North Miami want a thriving art and culture scene to be at the heart of their efforts to redevelop the city, particularly in the downtown core around MOCA and 125th Street. In 2021, that effort seems poised to come to fruition. The Community Redevelopment Agency, or CRA, recently announced a major subsidy for ELEVEN55, a 384-unit affordable and workforce housing complex near the museum which will break ground in 2021; the first step in an ambitious city plan to add 500 units of new or refurbished, affordable housing annually for several years. North Miami is growing. The massive luxury Sole Mia development on Biscayne Bay has been a success, while increasing numbers of new residents are drawn by North Miami’s green neighborhoods filled with single-family homes.

The CRA has refurbished the plaza in front of MOCA, sponsored the Jazz at MOCA concert series, and requires developers applying for funding to include a public art component. The agency will soon oversee a complete redesign and renovation of a community center in Griffing Park, one block from Copper Arts Hub. NoMi leaders want to further encourage cultural activity, restaurants, and shopping to boost quality of life for the approximately 62,000 people living in the city, and to draw visitors from around Miami-Dade and beyond. 

Copper Arts Hub is working with the CRA and city leaders to play a role in that cultural renaissance. It has been awarded a $150,000 CRA matching grant to renovate the Caridad and Esperanza buildings.

Julie Soimaud, the CRA Art in Public Places manager, says Copper Arts Hub comes at an ideal time to reinforce the city’s cultural ambitions. “The timing couldn’t be more perfect,” says Soimaud. “Having outside influences is crucial to the development of the arts in North Miami.”

“The face of North Miami has changed. The demographics are truly international. It’s opening up to a younger crowd, which is why what Geo is doing is really crucial. It’s reflective of North Miami today. It’s showcasing and embracing diversity.”

Darder will draw on Copperbridge Foundation’s extensive international network of artists, cultural supporters and producers for Copper Arts Hub, which will benefit North Miami in multiple ways – bringing acclaimed architectural experts for programs that will look at the city’s architecture and history, for instance; teaching artists to lead workshops for local children; and new attention to the city.

A major initiative for Copper Arts Hub will be a street mural project, which will bring international and South Florida street artists to paint ten murals in the immediate area. The mural project will reinforce the CRA’s public art efforts, which include art transformations of utility boxes in Griffing Park, as well light poles, crosswalks, and musical bus benches.

The Copper Arts Hub street mural project is led by Raquel Vallejo, an urban art curator who, as a consultant to the city of Gainesville, spearheaded their arts and culture master plan, initiating a mural project that created over 90 street murals in five years. The murals will bring attention to Copper Arts Hub and to North Miami, transforming the neighborhood visually, increasing cultural tourism, and using artists with huge social media followings who will bring international attention to the city.

“Murals create community,” says Vallejo, pointing to the success of mural projects in Gainesville, St. Petersburg, Palm Beach and Jacksonville. “They lift up the neighborhood. They beautify the urban environment, make everything pop. Every city that has a decent mural project is going through a renaissance.”

Beyond the economic boost of visitors, activity and visibility, Copper Arts Hub will emphasize the countless intangible benefits of culture. Its accessible, multi-cultural programming and friendly style will bring people of different classes, races and cultures together in ways that will foster appreciation and understanding. Its educational programs will inspire and teach both children and adults. As North Miami’s first international, multi-disciplinary arts center, Copper Arts Hub will build community pride and quality of life.

Neighbors are already embracing Darder’s vision. Cindy Ordaz, whose home and graphic design business, Vessel Design, are a few blocks from the Caridad and Esperanza buildings, believes Copper Arts Hub will bring the community together, while lifting it up with new cultural activity. “We’re a diamond in the rough – we have so much potential,” says Ordaz, a member of the NoMi Neighborhood Association. “Copperbridge is taking us in the direction North Miami should go. This is absolutely what people in my neighborhood want.”

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