NSU Art Museum’s ‘Close to Home’ Finds Common Ground Among Miami Artists

Piero Penizzotto, “Kings of Comedy (Chris, Imani, Bernard, Calvin, Dre)”, 2024, papier-mâché, foam and acrylic, is one of the works in NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale’s group exhibition “Close to Home” through Sunday, Oct 4. Collection NSU Art Museum, purchased with funds provided by the Susan S. Miller Acquisition Fund. (Photo by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy NSU Art Museum)

A cross-section of the Miami art scene can be found just north in Fort Lauderdale, where NSU Art Museum’s latest group exhibition, “Close to Home,” brings together nearly two dozen artists with ties to the city.

Community is the central idea of the show, with the three curators – museum director Bonnie Clearwater as well as Ariella Wollens and guest curator Sinaí Rivera – choosing artists that engage with ideas of family, friendship, and togetherness.

Many of the selected works depict the artists’ loved ones or close confidants, with the overall concept of the show arguing that such tight interpersonal bonds are an essential facet of the local art scene.

Roscoè B. Thické III, for example, pays tribute to his deceased grandmother in two works, referencing the diamond-shaped anti-theft shutters that cover the windows of her house in urban Miami. In one photo, an empty chair has been placed between the two shuttered windows.

Roscoè B. Thické III pays tribute to his deceased grandmother referencing the diamond-shaped anti-theft shutters that cover the windows of her house in urban Miami. “Missing Matriarch,” 2020. Archival Fine Art Print Hahnemühle Baryta Satin
300gsm. (Photo courtesy of The Guzman Duran Art Trust)

Another work, “Redeemer,” splits a portrait of Thické’s son in the Everglades, standing in a crucifix pose modeled after the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro. The diamond grid of the shutters serves as the frame, splitting the photo itself into parts, while tiny cymbals have been placed underneath the wood, turning the work into a massive tambourine. Both works in tandem poetically evoke the passing of an older generation’s spirit into their descendants.

“There were so many ways that we could have gone about (the theme of) friends and family, but I think overall it’s just spending time together and just quality time and mundane moments – I think this is what these artists are trying to highlight,” Rivera says. “And then I think there is this diversity that very much represents what Miami feels like to me, just different communities all in one space.”

Susan Kim Alvarez’s Bosch-esque triptych of South Florida chaos, “Mouth of Miami,” 2025. Acrylic, ink, and gouache on canvas. 60 in x 144 in (152.4 cm x 365.76 cm)
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; Purchased with funds provided by Curator Circle. (Photo courtesy of NSU Art Museum)

That diversity is reflected in the various mediums seen throughout the show, from painting and photography to three-dimensional artworks. Josh Aronson’s work “The Cabin Mirror” serves as a visual archive of his “Florida Boys” photo series, featuring preparatory documents and photos hung against a four-pane mirror.

Aronson developed the “Florida Boys” project, which places young South Floridians in pastoral settings, based on the idea that many local urban residents, often first-generation immigrants, are unable to engage in certain rites of passage.

“They don’t have access to that kind of quintessential boyhood experience of climbing trees, swimming in springs, so on and so forth, and so we use photography as a way to kind of write ourselves into that narrative,” Aronson says.

Richard Moreno’s “…and From This Wretched Form I Absolve Thee (Purifying Thy Form for the Continuation of my Spirit”), 2024, created with mummified iguana found in the historic grounds of Vizcaya. The artist’s sculptures feature gothic and esoteric aesthetics. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Meanwhile, Richard Moreno’s work spotlights a very different facet of the wider South Florida community, its punk and metal scene. The artist’s sculptures feature gothic and esoteric aesthetics, with some even incorporating decaying animal parts à la Damien Hirst. One piece uses an iguana carcass the artist scavenged while working as an art handler at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, placing the body in a coffinlike reliquary. Others have participatory aspects: During the show’s opening event on Sunday, June 7, a noise musician played an improvised set with one of the sculptures, which has a built-in amplifier in its base.

In recent years NSU Art Museum has become something of a champion of the local scene. Most notably, in 2023 Clearwater and Wollens curated “Future Past Perfect,” a uniquely-formatted show which gave seven individual local artists their own solo presentation.

Several artists from that exhibition reappear in “Close to Home,” allowing visitors to check their progression: Zoe Schweiger has moved on to painting sweltering nightlife scenes in her fluid style of monochromatic warm-color canvases, while Susan Kim Alvarez has illustrated a Bosch-esque triptych of South Florida chaos in her painting “Mouth of Miami.” Both have benefitted from the exposure; Schweiger will begin a master’s program at the Yale University School of Art later this year, while Alvarez and fellow artist Cici McMonagle, who also had a solo show at NSU, will stage a museum exhibition in their hometown of Lakeland next year.

Zoe Schweiger paints sweltering nightlife scenes in her fluid style of monochromatic warm-color canvases. “Cici at Floyd 1:09 AM,” 2025. Acrylic and ink on canvas, 40 in x 50 in (101.6 cm x 127 cm). (Photo courtesy of the artist and Mindy Solomon Gallery)

“We want to be an institution that doesn’t just debut artists or sort of pick up on people, but has a consistency in supporting them,” Wollens says. “(We want to) continue to have some sort of infrastructure with artists and follow them through these points in their careers, especially the artists who are in our community.”

Bringing on Rivera as co-curator is a part of that vision. A Miami native and a student at NSU studying business, the 26-year-old had worked in the curatorial department at the museum and was approached by Clearwater to help program the show based on her extensive participation in the local scene.

“Bonnie personally reached out to me. She was inspired by how I’m active in the community, and she saw potential in me that I had yet seen for myself,” Rivera says. “When I started going to school, (the idea of) being a curator still wasn’t at the top of my mind. I came to work at the museum for fun because I like museums, and I wanted to gain some kind of insight. But this truly is my passion, and it’s just kind of evolved from that.”

Papou, “Tropical Violence,” 2026, Oil, acrylic, spray paint, sand, latex on unstretched canvas, 72 in x 96 in (182.88 cm x 243.84 cm) (Photo courtesy of Spinello Projects)

The continued investment in these artists reflects a sustained interest in building an arts ecosystem that spans, and even surpasses the entire South Florida region. At the opening, many in attendance remarked that they rarely visited Fort Lauderdale. Time will tell whether artists will feel more comfortable claiming South Florida over Miami as their home base, but “Close to Home” is a good place to start.

WHAT: NSU Art Museum’s  “Close to Home”

 WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., Sunday; closed Monday. Through Sunday, Oct. 4.

 WHERE: NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

 COST: Admission is $16 for adults; $10 for seniors; $8 for military; $5 for college students; and free for students age 13-17, U.S. military veterans and dependents, museum members, NSU and Broward College students, faculty, and staff, and children 12 and under.

 INFORMATION: 954-525-5500 or nsuartmuseum.org

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