Courtesy of wallpeople.org

Wallpeople participating in Barcelona

Make it, tape it, and gather for a universal celebration of creative expression. That's what Wallpeople wants you to do.

On Saturday, June 1st, artists in 40 cities across the world will simultaneously turn the walls of their city streets into outdoor pop-up galleries. And yes, that includes Miami.

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It used to be that downtown's most exciting option at noon was lunch at Jimmy John's. But the arts and culture scene in city center is rapidly expanding, and with it comes far more enticing opportunities.

Most recently, as part of the Downtown Development Authority's (DDA) DWNTWN Art Window , local artist Patti Hernandez has launched Electric Lunch radio. Broadcasting live from a storefront, the online station (akin to pirate radio) is designed to bring a subculture context to downtown.

See also:
- the end/SPRING BREAK Are Setting Up Shop Downtown
- MasterMind 2012 Finalists: The End/Spring Break

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Gabriel Forestieri and Marla Phelan of ProjectLIMB

Some artists dream of performing on stage. Others dream of carrying their craft beyond the stage to blur the line between art and everyday life. Dancers Gabriel Forestieri and Marla Phelan of ProjectLIMB fall into the latter category, and they'll be showing Miami Beach how to make a more expressive use of space when they perform their al fresco Re-Vision at Lummus Park Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m.

The duo, who are real-life lovers, say the performance is a portrayal of a chance encounter between a man and a woman during which "one completely transforms the other." Over the course of 50 minutes, the dance will travel from the intersection of 14th Street and Ocean Drive all the way to -- and into -- the water. Targeted lighting will highlight the performance and delineate spaces on the sand as the dancers' twists, contortions, and expressions unravel their tumultuous love story.

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Shannon Defreitas/Carlos Ramos

A local firefighter-turned-artist will bring her unique bodypainting style to the Basel scene this week. Shannon Defreitas slathers in-your-face pigments all over the bare bodies of models, who then pose for art photos that seriously pop. You can check her out at The Art Place Wynwoood and a couple other venues this week, where she'll show you how it's done live.

As a matter of fact, Basel week will mark the one year anniversary of Defreitas' newfound hobby; the idea was first spontaneously set in motion at an Art Basel event last year.

"I've always been into painting," said Defreitas, "but last year at Basel, while some of my stuff was being shown in a gallery, I was inspired on the spot. I thought, 'You know what, I just kinda wanna put art on your body.'"

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Photo by Haute Living

The idea of public art in Bal Harbour may induce thoughts of a jewel-encrusted relief or a Gucci-donned sculpture, but Miamian George Sánchez-Calderón has humbler ideas in mind.

In following a trend of erecting local public art in South Florida, Bal Harbour has chosen to kick off Unscripted, an ongoing series of commissions beginning in October, with Sánchez-Calderón, the multi-platform artist known for large-scale projects around Miami involving a degree of architecture.

Although Bal Harbour's known to most as that stretch along Collins with the fancy shops and pricey condos filled with America's retired community, Sánchez-Calderón sees the village differently. The area actually has a more timid, colorful history, and Sánchez-Calderón plans to showcase that history with his installations.

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Photo by Logan Fazio

See Jessy Nite is a Bad, Bad Girl at Primary Projects.

Late last week, we reported that according to Trojan Condom Survey, Miami residents are number one in the country when it comes to sexual satisfaction. Not just that, but we are also at the top of the list of how many times we get down and dirty each year. Really, what they are trying to tell us is that we are a bunch of floozies. (Hey, at least we are using condoms... let's hope.)

So it's no surprise that when local artist Jessy Nite decided to find her calling, it was porn. Well, porn-inspired art, anyway.

Nite, who moved from New York to Miami five years ago this month, is presenting her newest creation, "Color Me Porno," tomorrow with the help of nightlife veterans NFA Crew. Together, they are turning two giant rooms at Villa 221's Skybox Gallery into an adult-themed playground with word searches, connect the dots, and wall art that all the carry the theme of sex, sex, and more sex.

Before the big debut, we chatted with Jessy Nite about just what fans can expect this evening, her thoughts on the Miami art scene, and why everyone should let their freak flag fly.

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Read also: New Public Art in Opa-Locka Promises to Break Down Barriers, Literally

Los Angeles-based designers Christian Stayner and Jennifer Bonner do not look like they belong in Opa-locka.

But when the distressed neighborhood called for artists to come install public art and start a movement, the hipster pair answered and came to the impoverished site with experience and a plan.

One year ago, the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation received a grant that would allow it to launch a project to erect public art pieces and strengthen the community's involvement with the arts. Stayner and Bonner were one of four artist teams chosen to help drive the cause.

The thing about these Angelinos, though, is that they don't plan on leaving any time soon.

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Gale Fulton Ross's conceptual design for Opa-Locka art project

Earlier this week, Riptide asked readers if the fancy renaming of historically rough Miami neighborhoods would ever end. We're here to answer: no.

Recently, "The Triangle" in Opa-locka, blocked off by a metal barricade erected in the '80s to isolate the large amount of drugs and violence in the area, was given the new name "Magnolia North." But this is more than just a renaming. It could come with a hopeful new era for Opa-locka.

One year ago, the Opa‐locka Community Development Corporation received a $250,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to be put toward strengthening the community's involvement with the arts. Part of the project included choosing four artist teams to help change the face of the neighborhood. Now, the artists have been chosen, and organizers hope the work they install will kick off a period of revitalization in the area.

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Photos by Robert Dempster

The artist, getting down to monkey business.

See Ruben Ubiera's New Wynwood Mural Combines Gorillas, Locals, and Latin Culture.

Since being voted Best Street Artist in New Times' Best of Miami 2012 polls (an experience he calls "humbling") Ruben Ubiera has been keeping busy with murals, public art, and gallery work alike. The gorilla is on the rise, literally and metaphorically.

Since its inception in 2010, Ruben's gorilla," aka his urban pop/post-grafism art, has moved from the streets and into galleries and collectors' homes, earning him a viable spot within the gallery space. "Graffiti and street art is the 4,000-pound gorilla sitting in the museums and galleries now," Ruben says.

The gorilla is, naturally, a favorite object for Ubiera; he has painted many variants of the colossal ape on canvas, wood and walls. And his newest gorillas are heading back to the street. In fact, one will join Ubiera's existing Wynwood mural, "Monkey Bidniss," this week.

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City of Miami Beach

Tobias Rehberger, obstinate lighthouse

​In the spirit of transparency, we'll admit that behind-the-scenes at Cultist you'll find a painstakingly detailed schedule of operations. Every move we make is calculated to best serve y'all, the reader.

During Basel week, however, our daily itinerary is interrupted by greater Miami's traffic nightmare.

According to Google Maps' suggested route, it should've taken us 13 minutes to get from our offices at 4500 Biscayne to South Pointe Park for the 5 p.m. public unveiling of Tobias Rehberger's obstinate lighthouse, the latest addition to Miami Beach's public art collection. In reality, it took us 20 minutes to get past the Ivax building, and they're next door.

By the time we arrived at South Pointe, the hoopla had ended and it was just us an a 55-foot piece of abstract public art.

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