In Its 4th Year at InterContinental Miami, Noche de Arte Presents Live, Local Artists

Ignacio Font talks with hotel guests at the InterContinental Miami about his art. Each Monday a month, there is programming that features a local artist for guests of the hotel and the public. (Photo by Jean Blackwell Font, courtesy Font Squared)

Jean Blackwell Font tells the story about how Noche de Arte got its start at the InterContinental Miami. She had received a call that the hotel wanted to have artists painting live in the lobby. “They wanted to create this opportunity for their guests,” says Jean Font.

What the idea evolved into was a monthlong show for a local artist, where not only would the artist be present for live painting but also have their work exhibited.

“(The hotel) envisioned the Monday night event,” which would have featured an artist in the lobby painting for guests and visitors. “So we expanded their vision into a month long exhibition with guests experiencing the work in the lobby all month long,” says Jean Font, who adds that the “hotel really loved the idea.” Jean Blackwell Font and Ignacio Font are co-founders of collaboARTive, Inc., a non-profit arts organization in Miami, which, along with programming, also provides affordable and accessible studio space for artists in the Bird Road Art District.

Noche de Arte began in March of 2022.

“The first year it was Iggy and I asking our friends if they wanted to be part of it. We’d ask, ‘How do you feel about setting up from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday nights in the lobby.’ And our artist friends were like, ‘yes, that sounds great. I love it.’ ”

The artists would be present in the lobby in a live event each Monday and their artwork would be displayed for the month.

Erin Parish, Artist in Residence for Noche de Arte, with her work during a Monday night event at the InterContinental Miami hotel. (Photo by Jean Blackwell Font, courtesy Font Squared)

“We had no idea how we were going to make this work so that people would be interested in coming back Monday after Monday,” says Ignacio “Iggy” Font. So they added different programming each week.  “It’s still the same artist, but the event is different.”

The Noche de Arte artists are also considered artists in residence. Hosted in the hotel’s Gallery Lounge, the InterContinental is touting the program as Mondays Mean More with the weekly arts activation and exhibition that “breaks down barriers between artist and viewer.”

Iggy Font explains that the original format for the program continued in the lobby for about two years and then something that may have upended the program actually became a benefit. The lobby was getting a renovation and the glass panels that they had been using to hang the exhibitions were being removed.

Jean Font recalls that Gina Genna, the director of marketing at the InterContinental Miami, mentioned an empty room suitable for hosting Noche de Arte, the live artists and the monthly exhibitions.

The area, Jean Font says, is a glass-enclosed space off of the lobby of the hotel. Good visibility.

February’s artist in residence is multidisciplinary artist VantaBlack. On Monday, Feb. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m., VantaBlack participates in an artist chat with Iggy Font inside the Gallery Lounge. (Photo courtesy of CollaboARTive)

Now, on Monday nights, an artist is sitting in the window making art and gourmet treats and light fare are offered from the hotel’s Toro Toro Lounge. The doors are open and we create this creative community experience in the gallery,” says Jean.

Since the program started in 2022, more than 40 local artists have been featured.

“We put the call out for artists for 2025. The first year we were begging our friends, the second year it was a little easier. We put the call out in April of 2024 for 11 spots for 2025 and we had 52 applications. We have definitely gotten the attention of Miami’s artist community. Every week, someone comes in and says, ‘so how do I get a show here,’ ” says Jean Font, adding that collaboARTive, Inc.’s board selects the artist from the applications.

They also got a grant from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau to pay the artists for their time. “They came to us and said let us help,” says Jean Font. In addition to the partnership with the hotel, and the convention and visitors bureau, Noche de Arte gets support from the Miami Downtown Development Authority and the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs.

Cultural tourism is a large part of Noche de Arte, according to the Fonts. To attract people around the country or the world to come to Miami to possibly experience Noche de Arte for themselves and to bring people into the InterContinental Miami, there’s a livestream on the third Monday night that goes out on Instagram, according to Jean Font. “I do a little conversation, a friendly chat with the artist. I ask them what they are working on, what materials they are using,” she says, adding that it lasts about 15 minutes. “It’s just another way to activate the night.”

The last Monday of the month is an artist talk.

Rebecca White is Noche de Arte’s March artist in residence. (Photo courtesy of CollaboARTive)

February’s artist in residence is multidisciplinary artist VantaBlack. On Monday, Feb. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m., VantaBlack participates in an artist chat with Iggy Font inside the Gallery Lounge.

On Monday, March 3 from 6 to 9 p.m., Noche de Arte celebrates its fourth anniversary as well as the introduction of March’s artist in residence Rebecca White.

For the hotel, it’s added another dimension to the art and culture that, as Jean Font says, is “part of its DNA.”

“The hotel now has a gallery in the hotel that is open seven days a week. Guests are welcome to come and go as they like and they get a taste of what Miami’s local artists are doing.” The artwork is for purchase and guests have wanted to take a piece of Miami’s art home with them, according to Iggy Font.

Genna says that it is a passion project for the hotel and is welcoming the partnership in its fourth year. “We have broken boundaries and provided a wonderful opportunity for local artists to showcase their works  . . . and interact with our hotel guests,” says Genna in a quote on collaboARTive’s website.

The Fonts say they would like to replicate the idea at other hotels, but there’s a caveat.

“It has to be done with the same quality and the same commitment from everyone involved,” says Iggy Font.

Other artists for 2025’s Noche de Arte include:

April: Silvana Soriano

May: Annick Duvivier

June: Jacqueline Bermudez

July: Monica Isla

August: Dan Ramirez

September: Pamela Vasquez

October: Ramon Altamirano

November: Eumelia Castro

WHAT: Mondays Mean More with Noche de Arte at InterContinental Miami by CollaboARTive

WHEN: Every Monday. Artist talk from 6 to 8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 24 with VantaBlack; Noche de Arte fourth anniversary party 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, March 3 and an introduction of March artist in residence Rebecca White.

WHERE: InterContinental Miami, 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami

COST: Free. RSVP recommended for artist talk.

INFORMATION: www.collaboartive.org/nochedearte

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