Waiting For the Bus: Art Takes Shelter In Miami Public Transportation

"It became more aware to me once I visited Miami how important it was to be able to develop Site95 and have artists create site-specific work. To think about their own environment and how it translates to other environments," Kent said of the grass-roots nonprofit which has recently debuted its work in New York, D.C. and now Miami -- the first stop for the City Limits series.

In the Project Room, other works by Anderson engage current cultural and political issues which are pervasive to, but resonate far beyond, Washington, D.C. Maintenance Required, a project where Anderson mapped broken fire hydrants throughout his city, was a response to hydrant failures during the 2007 Eastern Market and Georgetown Library Fires. In Hours of Labor, the artist investigates the current politics of economics and immigration by hiring day laborers to create objects with him. JOB Creation Project hopes to inspire ideas for job security as Anderson personally takes to the streets of Miami in a uniform with hand-stitched details by his wife.

John James Anderson

Anderson dons the uniform-just a city employee doing his job.

"I'm going to be giving people jobs," Anderson said. "Our economy lost all these jobs seemingly overnight. It's a hard pill to swallow if you're unemployed and your bills have to be paid.... I want to illustrate with the argument what the government's role is and how economics works, and those issues have been debated as long as this country has been around."

He will disseminate buttons and cards with a variety of literature, quotes from politicians, satirists, and quotes from the Book of Job (eerily appropriate). These will be on display in the gallery and Site95 will further document the performance in its October Journal.

John James Anderson

Anderson aspires for his work to "engage from a middle road. Try to provoke some kind of discussion outside of the artistic sphere."

Miami's burgeoning art community welcomes the challenge.

City Limits opens Saturday, September 8 and runs through Wednesday, October 17 at Locust Projects, 3852 North Miami Avenue, Miami FL 33127. Opening reception is September 8 beginning with a 6 p.m. conversation with curator and artist. Reception runs from 7 to 10 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Bus Shelter Project on view September 2012. For more information call 305-576-8570.

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