Arts & Business Council of Miami Unveils ‘Arts Mean Business’ at Annual Breakfast

Panelists Jonathan Plutzik of The Betsy Hotel, Samantha Nieves of Ball & Chain, Gina Genna of InterContinental Miami and Jean Blackwell Font of CollaboARTive during a panel at the Arts & Business Council of Miami’s 18th Annual Arts & Hospitality Breakfast. (Photo courtesy of ArtburstMiami) 

The ballroom quickly filled with almost 150 leaders from the arts and hospitality community, who gathered at the InterContinental Miami on Friday, Nov. 15, for the Arts & Business Council of Miami’s 18th Annual Arts & Hospitality Breakfast.

Attendees smile for the camera at the conclusion of the 18th Breakfast with the Arts & Hospitality at the InterContinental Miami in Downtown. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

Renee Pesci, executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Miami took the podium, and opened the program by announcing a new opportunity and initiative  — its Arts Mean Business campaign.

“The Arts Mean Business initiative was developed by our organization to provide essential resources to sustain and bolster the creative economy,” said Pesci. “The program includes customized assistance to help artists, nonprofit arts organizations, and creatives recover from recent major challenges including a significant loss of financial support due to reductions in state and other funding.”

One of the campaign’s key components – the ArtSmart Financial Success Series – will feature Small Group Expert Sessions, Treasurer’s Roundtable, Board Empowerment Techniques and Curated Cost/Benefit Analysis for Budgets workshops led by financial experts.

The workshops are tailored to assist and educate arts organizations and “offers a roadmap for financial resilience during difficult times,” according to Pesci.

City Theatre takes the stage presenting their original play reading “Feliz Navidad” to the delight of attendees who roared with laughter at the comedic presentation. At the podium is City Theatre Executive Director Gladys Ramirez and center stage is City Theatre Artistic Director Margaret Ledford.  Far left is actress Diana Garle. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

And with the focus on arts, attendees were treated to a live performance as City Theatre’s artistic director Margaret Ledford and actress Diana Garle presented a play reading of a comic holiday short “Feliz Navidad.”

Next, a panel discussion, led by John Copeland, director of Arts & Culture Tourism Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, featured four panelists – Gina Genna, director of marketing InterContinental Miami, Jean Blackwell Font, artist and founder of CollaboARTive, Jonathan Plutzik, co-owner of The Betsy Hotel South Beach and Samantha Nieves, event manager of Ball & Chain in Little Havana.

The foursome shared their unique perspectives on how their businesses combine arts and hospitality, beginning with Genna who said, “our lobby at the InterContinental was built around the arts and now includes our newest marketing piece, 3-D mapping at every spindle making it an immersive light show.”

She also worked with Blackwell Font and her husband Iggy Font, an artist, to create Noche de Arte. The monthly artist residency allows hotel guests to interact with artists while offering the artists a space to showcase their work.

“We are currently into our third year hosting Noche de Arte, a program that has evolved to where Iggy and I now curate the choices each month,” said Blackwell Font. “We will also be part of the Fridge Art Fair which will be held at several locations around Miami Beach during Miami Art Week.”

Plutzik spoke about the unique position of The Betsy Hotel where they offer year-round arts programming as a boutique hotel. “In the hospitality world you have to differentiate yourself in some fashion,” he said. “At the Betsy, we are engaging with people who are here for extended periods of time and expect great art.”

As the son of a Pulitzer-prize nominated poet, Plutzik is proud that all the performers and writers who come to The Betsy “are deeply embedded with us and our guests realize that our artwork is important and they recognize the serious art on our walls,” he said.

Additionally, its Writers Room has hosted over 1,000 writers and the room is there “because we want to engage with the writing world in Miami as much as we can. Our hotel guests are always impressed by our writers,” he said.

Nieves from Ball & Chain said that in 2014 leadership at the restaurant and entertainment venue “made a decision to highlight the history of Little Havana and the cultural significance of the neighborhood,” she said.

Ball & Chain has become the anchor of Calle Ocho/SW Eighth Street, with round-the-clock entertainment near its front doors that draw in passersby and award-winning headlining acts performing on their patio inside on the pineapple stage.

“We have created a vibe at Ball & Chain in that pineapple stage, it is where all our bands play now,” said Nieves. “It is beautiful that I get to call Ball & Chain my office.”

From left, Gina Genna, marketing director of InterContinental Miami; Glenn Sampert, general manager InterContinental Miami accept their Arts Champion Award from Renee Pesci, executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Miami. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

Maria Carla Chicuen, executive director of Cultural Affairs at Miami Dade College receives Arts Champion Award from Renee Pesci, executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Miami. Photo by Gustavo Fernandez.

From left, Yvette Harris of Harris Public Relations; Petra Brennan, director of Tourism Business Enhancement/Multicultural Tourism & Development Department · Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau accepts the Arts Champion Award from Renee Pesci, executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Miami. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

Copeland then took the stage once again to present the Champions of the Arts Awards:  InterContinental Miami, Miami Dade College, and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Art of Black Miami program.

Performers from StepFlix roam and entertain attendees at the 18th Breakfast with the Arts & Hospitality at the InterContinental Miami. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

Oscar Fuentes, “The Biscayne Poet,” hands an attendee her poem written on the fly on his typewriter at the Improvisational Poetry station. (Photo by Gustavo Fernandez)

And there was no shortage of fun throughout the morning with StepFlix performers roaming the room adding fun and flair in their colorful costumes and poems composed on the fly at the typewriter by Miami’s renowned Oscar Fuentes better known as The Biscayne Poet.

Plutzik from The Betsy encapsulated the mission of this year’s event best when he said, “we need to double our efforts and amplify our voices, especially in Miami, now more than ever.”

Learn more about the Arts Mean Business initiative and the Arts & Business Council of Miami at artsbizmiami.org/artsmart.

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