about Laura Bruney

As President and CEO of the Arts & Business Council of Miami for the past 25 years, Laura Bruney has helped strengthen the cultural community through leadership and board development programs, audience development and marketing initiatives, volunteer programs for the arts and networking and community events. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of Council staff, policy and programs. Ms. Bruney works closely with the governing board to develop and implement the Council’s strategic plan, interfaces with the cultural community on behalf of the Council, and is the Council’s chief spokesperson.

about Jean Blackwell Font

about Josie Gulliksen

Josie Gulliksen is a freelance writer and major arts advocate and enthusiast who loves everything cultural and is excited to live in such a thriving community as Miami. A Miami native, she currently writes for South Florida on the Cheap, Edible South Florida and Miami Media Group and has a personal blog Scene Around South FL. She worked for nearly a decade at Miami Today covering the arts community, calendar of events and restaurant scene. She has also worked in public relations in non-profit for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, in travel and tourism for Newman PR and at the Miami Science Museum. She has written for Florida Travel + Life Magazine, Family Matters Magazine and Florida Monthly Magazine.

about Adriana Perez

Native Miamian, Adriana Perez, joined the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs in 2008 as a Projects Administrator.  She spearheads initiatives that support and develop the professional development of Miami-Dade County’s individual artists and manages a portfolio that includes: Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program, Playwright Development Program and Creative Capital Professional Development Program.  In addition to working with individual artists, Adriana manages the Festivals & Special Events Grants program and the Cultural Development Program.  On the journalistic side, she has the privilege of working with the team at the award-winning ArtBurst, Miami’s innovative hub providing arts coverage on multiple platforms. Prior to joining the department, she served as Producer of Major Presentations at the Adrienne Arsht Center booking sold-out performances for many top rated artists and commissioned several critically acclaimed new works, including: Michael Yawney’s 1000 Homosexuals, David Clarkson’sFlexion, Octavio Campos’ BugChasers, Gustavo Matamoros’ Cars and Fish, and Jennylin Duany’s Cabaret Unkempt, and collaborated on the world premiere of several others. Adriana received her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Florida and her Masters in Fine Arts in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University.

about Michelle F. Solomon

Michelle F. Solomon is the editor, arts writer, and theater critic for ArtBurst Miami. Michelle was immersed in theater and the arts from a young age. When she was  5, she began a professional singing career as one of the featured performers with the Stars of Tomorrow at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, N.J. A graduate of Emerson College, Boston, Mass., with a Master’s degree from the State University of New York, Michelle has been arts editor at major and mid-sized newspapers, including Executive Arts Editor of the Albany Times Union and Assistant Features Editor of Entertainment at The Detroit Free Press. She was an on-air Entertainment Reporter and Managing Editor of New Media for NBC affiliate, WDIV-TV, Detroit, and the first Digital Executive Producer of New Media at ABC affiliate, Miami’s WPLG-TV, Local 10, where she also created the original true crime podcast, The Florida Files. In addition to her position as editor for artburstmiami.com, she covers a variety of cultural events for ArtBurst and is also editor and writer for miamiartzine.com, a publication of the Miami Beach Arts Trust.  Michelle’s work was nominated for the 2022 Rabkin Prize for Visual Arts Journalism, she received a 2023 Sunshine State Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for Beat Reporting – Visual Arts coverage, and was awarded two prizes in the 2025 Sunshine State Award including Finalist for her reporting of Miami’s arts scene – Arts & Culture Commentary and Criticism, and for Beat Reporting, Arts & Culture. She was named the 2025 Arts Marketer of the Year by the Arts and Business Council of Miami. Michelle is a Carbonell Award judge and also a judge for the Silver Palm Awards. She is assistant professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Arts at Nova Southeastern University’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences. As a volunteer, she has served as co-chairman and mission chairperson/advocacy for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

about Orlando Taquechel