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Everyone came out Saturday night to celebrate the grand opening of something new and special in Coconut Grove, The Dynamo Art Gallery at CocoWalk. At left are Ellie Rusinova and Brandon Styles from Colorado, Ellie was showing at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival and at right are Carl Templer and Flavio Correa.
A couple of hundred people came out for the Dynamo premier party to enjoy the modern art exhibits at Dynamo. At left R. Jackson and Yolande Clark-Jackson, flank Lilia Garcia, curator of the new gallery. At right are Alfonso and Vivian Corona, partners with Lilia in the new venture.
This is something really exciting for Coconut Grove. The exciting thing is the huge space (two floors at CocoWalk) will bring back lots of artistic endeavors reminding me of AnnaMaria and the Windisch-Hunt Gallery from a few years ago. If you're new in town, do a search at the top for the Windisch-Hunt Gallery and you'll be amazed at all the things that went on there.
This new Dynamo Art Gallery will feature art installations, art workshops, live music performances, fashion shows and diverse lifestyle workshops. Dynamo is going to feature the most avant-garde design based forms and trends in art, music, fashion and healthy living.
This is Heather Lane and Chris Graham and that's Kaia crawling back on the bar, which was turned into an art installation. Heather and Chris are featuring the Ground Up Boutique and Ombu Lifestyle shoes. Heather is wearing a Shade of Earth dress. And the whole installation is for sale, one piece at at time. The Ground Up items were all repainted and recrafted. The great thing about Ombu Lifestyle shoes is that when you buy one pair of the eco friendly shoes, they will plant one seed.
The gallery is an ongoing and evolving project. The non-profit organization will change out the art frequently. The Inauguration Show, "Breaking Ground," will be on display through April 1, 2013. The pop up gallery is open Saturdays from 7 pm to midnight, on the top floor of CocoWalk. Please feel free to call them at 305 812 1283 or e-mail: Lilia_Garcia@Bellsouth.net.
At left are Carl Templer and Peggy Quattro, marketing manager of CocoWalk. At right is a very cool display made of old headphones.
Saturday night's party was exciting, it brought out real art lovers and lots of Grovites. It looks like the start of something new and unique and something we have needed her for a long time. Monty Trainer and his crew announced the winners of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival at the party. It really was the perfect night to end a great day of at the Arts Festival. You can see the Arts Festival winners listed at their website at www.cgaf.com.
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The Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce is having the next networking cocktail event at Atchana's East/West Kitchen on Wednesday, February 27 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Atchana's is in the lobby of the Mutiny Hotel (2951 S. Bayshore Drive).
Admission is $10 for Grove Chamber members, $15 for future members.Includes welcome drink and hors d'oeuvres. Happy Hour prices until 8 pm.
They have lots of great raffle prizes, too.
Discounted valet parking is only $5, provided with validation.
After the event, stay and dine. Enjoy a delicious post-networker dinner at Atchana's and save 15% off your check plus get free valet parking.
RSVP: 305-444-7270 or GroveChamber@coconutgrove.com.
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There is a meeting to discuss the Coconut Grove Playhouse next week. It's a private dinner meeting of the Dade Heritage Trust where they will try to save the structure from developers who have their eyes on the place. The public is not invited as this is a private group. They are basically strategizing on how to save the Playhouse structure.
County Commissioner Xavier Suarez will be in attendance. RJ Heisenbottle Architects, of Coral Gables, were invited where they will be making a presentation revealing the design they have come up with to restore the Playhouse. The question is: is the building going to remain intact, will some of it be destroyed, will all of it be destroyed?
$20.5 million dollars is still available for the restoration.
Aries Development, who owns the property, has filed a lawsuit against the Playhouse. It's believed that Aries, which owns Calamari and the restaurants that are part of that complex are moving in to take over a lot of the land in the area so that they can develop the large swath. They also own the old Stirrup House on Charles Avenue, which was to be turned into a Bed & Breakfast. It backs up to the Taurus bar, part of the Calamari complex.
Now that the Playhouse has been put up for grabs, everyone wants a piece -- those who want to preserve it and those who want to develop it and make it condos and a multi-use complex.
The die has been cast in the Grove as far as that is concerned. The Coconut Grove Bank lot will soon be condos, as well as the old Grand Bay Hotel and the land at 3444 Main Highway was also slated to be condos, but that plan has been put on hold.
It's really not far-fetched to see Coconut Grove as another Brickell in a number of years and that's sad because the only thing left in Coconut Grove then will be the waterfront, which apparently is all that these new residents are willing to buy condos for at this point. And of course the waterfront is being eyed for development, so really, nothing of Coconut Grove will be left in the end.
Again, this is a private dinner and it was only brought to my attention by a Facebook page and by friends of the Playhouse. Future meetings will most likely be held on the subject that will be set up for the public.
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Redistricting of City of Miami District 2, which Coconut Grove is part of, could eliminate the upper east side, which is also now part of District 2. Many are concerned since the upper east side is more similar to Coconut Grove than the center area (downtown, Midtown, Wynwood and Brickell). District 2 goes along the bay from South Grove up to about NE 87 Street.
I tend to think we have more in common with midtown and Wynwood.
The Shorecrest, Belle Meade and Palm Grove neighborhoods are set to move from District 2 to District 5. The upper eastside neighbors are unhappy and don't want the change. They have asked for additiona meetings so they can give more input. The map above shows the neighborhoods circled in red. They would be part of District 5, which is to the west of them.
There was was a meeting this past week and the next one is at Miami City Hall (3500 Pan American Drive) at 6 pm, on Monday, March 4.
There was talk a few years ago of making another district, but I think it was all talk. It would have started at the Miami River and ended in South Grove and would have consisted of just Coconut Grove and Brickell, but that would have given us six City Commissioners, and committees need to consist of an odd number (which most think the Commission does already) but we're not talking about the people now, we're talking about the number count.
The City is required by law to redraw the district every decade to account for shifts in population numbers, it evens out the population count. May is the deadline for the change.
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On the Saturday of the Arts Festival, I was buying food at a vendor's booth and at the food booth next door, the Health Department was closing the guy down because he was not storing the food correctly. The vendor said he would comply with the correct procedures and I guess he opened back up again. He was acting weird towards me and I guess that was why, he didn't want me to hear what was being said, but I couldn't help but overhear it. I never said anything to the vendor, I just acted like usual.
The next day, a friend and I got food from that said "dirty" vendor and a short while later I found myself having to leave the Festival because I was feeling sick. I felt better after some Alka-Seltzer and Pepto Bismol, but I felt bad having to leave early feeling ill.
It's funny how we have short memories. Where was Jeff Weinsier from Channel 10 when you needed him?
I just thought it was funny how with all the vendors they have at the festivals, I happened to gravitate right to the one that had food issues.
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The Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce is having the next networking cocktail event at Atchana's East/West Kitchen on Wednesday, February 27 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Atchana's is in the lobby of the Mutiny Hotel (2951 S. Bayshore Drive).
Admission is $10 for Grove Chamber members, $15 for future members.Includes welcome drink and hors d'oeuvres. Happy Hour prices until 8 pm.
They have lots of great raffle prizes, too.
Discounted valet parking is only $5, provided with validation.
After the event, stay and dine. Enjoy a delicious post-networker dinner at Atchana's and save 15% off your check plus get free valet parking.
RSVP: 305-444-7270 or GroveChamber@coconutgrove.com.
To contact us Click
HERE
There is a meeting to discuss the Coconut Grove Playhouse next week. It's a private dinner meeting of the Dade Heritage Trust where they will try to save the structure from developers who have their eyes on the place. The public is not invited as this is a private group. They are basically strategizing on how to save the Playhouse structure.
County Commissioner Xavier Suarez will be in attendance. RJ Heisenbottle Architects, of Coral Gables, were invited where they will be making a presentation revealing the design they have come up with to restore the Playhouse. The question is: is the building going to remain intact, will some of it be destroyed, will all of it be destroyed?
$20.5 million dollars is still available for the restoration.
Aries Development, who owns the property, has filed a lawsuit against the Playhouse. It's believed that Aries, which owns Calamari and the restaurants that are part of that complex are moving in to take over a lot of the land in the area so that they can develop the large swath. They also own the old Stirrup House on Charles Avenue, which was to be turned into a Bed & Breakfast. It backs up to the Taurus bar, part of the Calamari complex.
Now that the Playhouse has been put up for grabs, everyone wants a piece -- those who want to preserve it and those who want to develop it and make it condos and a multi-use complex.
The die has been cast in the Grove as far as that is concerned. The Coconut Grove Bank lot will soon be condos, as well as the old Grand Bay Hotel and the land at 3444 Main Highway was also slated to be condos, but that plan has been put on hold.
It's really not far-fetched to see Coconut Grove as another Brickell in a number of years and that's sad because the only thing left in Coconut Grove then will be the waterfront, which apparently is all that these new residents are willing to buy condos for at this point. And of course the waterfront is being eyed for development, so really, nothing of Coconut Grove will be left in the end.
Again, this is a private dinner and it was only brought to my attention by a Facebook page and by friends of the Playhouse. Future meetings will most likely be held on the subject that will be set up for the public.
