How Studio Vizcaya turned artmaking into a Miami summer tradition

Participants parade sections of a deconstructed dragon lantern across Vizcaya’s East Terrace during the 2019 finale of “Weave.” This year, Studio Vizcaya is inviting the public to help create—and bring to life— “The Fruit We Bear.” (Photo by Ben Thacker, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

For nearly a decade, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens has invited Miamians to do something unusual each summer: come together to create art.

This year, participants are building giant papier-mâché fruit lanterns as part of “The Fruit We Bear,” the latest edition of Studio Vizcaya. Led by artist Shawna Moulton, the free weekend workshops will culminate Saturday, July 25 with an illuminated twilight procession through Vizcaya’s waterfront gardens, where more than 1,000 participants are expected to carry their creations through the historic estate.

Layers of white, orange and yellow paper begin to take shape as workshop participants learn the techniques behind this summer’s fruit-inspired lanterns. (Photo by Mateo SeZa, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

The event also marks a return to one of the program’s earliest traditions. After suspending the event in 2020 due to the pandemic, Vizcaya is bringing back its illuminated procession for the first time since 2019.

“The feedback we’ve been getting is that people want to come back to Vizcaya and be part of this immersive experience again,” says Gabriella Roman, Vizcaya’s community programs manager. “So, this year we’re returning to some of the program’s early roots.”

Participation is designed to be as welcoming as possible.

“We’re intentionally trying to create a third space where adults can engage their creative side,” Roman says. “Maybe it’s an experience you normally would have had at summer camp or art camp, but now you get to experience it later in life.”

Participants working on lanterns for a former workshop at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. This year’s “The Fruit We Bear” marks the return of the museum’s signature illuminated procession for the first time since 2019. (Photo courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

Participants range from families with children to people arriving alone, looking for a chance to unplug and connect with others through artmaking. Nearly half are first-time visitors, while others return every year. One couple even met while participating in a previous edition and now comes back each summer as a tradition.

Keeping the program free is part of that philosophy.

“We want to make the program as accessible as possible and remove any barriers someone might have to participating,” Roman says. “The final artwork is supposed to reflect many different voices, stories and backgrounds, so it was essential to keep it free and not limit participation with a paywall.”

Gabriella Roman, community programs manager at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, works with young participants during a Studio Vizcaya workshop. (Photo by Manuela Delgado/Beyond Creative Productions, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

Some people commit to multiple weekends, while others stop by for a single afternoon. All materials are provided, and no artistic experience is required.

Roman says the approach shifted after the pandemic, when smaller groups created opportunities for deeper interaction.

“We wanted the experience to be more intentional,” she says. “We built in more time for talking, more time for people to get to know their neighbors and more opportunities to exchange ideas.”

For Moulton, the project began with a walk through Vizcaya.

Born in the Bahamas and raised in Jamaica, Moulton lives in Plantation, in Broward County, and maintains her art practice and studio in Miami. She studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. While visiting Vizcaya with a group from the Norton Museum of Art, she was drawn to one of the four herms —sculptural figures—that flank the entrance to The Barge, the estate’s monumental stone breakwater overlooking Biscayne Bay. The figure carries a basket of fruit on its head, immediately transporting her back to childhood memories in Jamaica.

Lead artist Shawna Moulton reviews participants’ work during a Studio Vizcaya workshop at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. Her project, “The Fruit We Bear,” uses fruit-inspired lanterns to spark conversations about shared values and community. (Photo by Manuela Delgado/Beyond Creative Productions, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

“Fruit immediately made me think about community,” Moulton says. “In Jamaica, if you came to my house during the summer, you weren’t going to be hungry. My family was going to feed you mangoes, bananas and whatever had grown nearby. We all have a story of somebody giving us a piece of fruit, and that felt like a beautiful place to start.”

Florida’s landscape offered another layer of inspiration.

“One of my favorite things about South Florida is that it reminds me of Jamaica,” she says. “There are mango trees, papayas and all kinds of fruit growing here, so I was also inspired by the land itself and what a fruitful place Florida can be.”

The lanterns are tied to values such as joy, kindness, peace and patience. Throughout the summer, participants are encouraged to talk about those ideas and what they mean in their own lives.

“I didn’t want the sculptures to simply be fruits,” Moulton says. “I wanted them to be connected to something we could have conversations about.”

Gathering around food, Moulton says, has always been one of the simplest ways to bring people together.

Families gather at Vizcaya Village carrying handmade lanterns before the start of the 2018 “Float” procession. (Photo by Ben Thacker, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

“My philosophy is that you can never be angry when food is being served,” she says.

She has already watched new relationships emerge.

“There were a group of women who had never met before, and by the end of the afternoon they were like best friends,” she says. “They came up with a design together, executed it together and were proud to share it with everybody else.”

Others have described the experience as a form of wellness.

“People have told me this feels like healing,” Moulton says. “They’re grateful for having a space like this.”

Those interactions, Roman says, have become part of the estate’s identity.

“Vizcaya is a museum and a historic estate, but we also think of it as a home for the community,” she says. “Over the past decade, Studio Vizcaya has become one of those places people now associate with the summer art experiences they return to year after year.”

That sense of belonging often spreads quickly.

During a recent gathering, Moulton recalls a retired teacher who was having such a good time that she called her daughter and asked her to come join.

“An hour later, her daughter was there,” Moulton says.

Community members parade illuminated lanterns through Vizcaya’s Upper East Terrace during the finale of “Whirl,” the museum’s first illuminated procession in 2016. This summer’s finale revives one Studio Vizcaya’s lantern building community tradition. (Photo courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)

On July 25, participants will gather at Vizcaya Village before crossing South Miami Avenue at twilight and entering the gardens, where nine large-scale lanterns will be illuminated. Five will be fruit-shaped sculptures, while four will be collage-inspired lanterns created throughout the summer.

Roman hopes participants leave with something deeper than a finished artwork.

“I hope people feel excitement, wonder and a connection to everyone around them,” she says. “That procession across South Miami Avenue is such an important part of the program, and I hope participants understand the role they play in making the experience possible.”

WHAT: Studio Vizcaya: The Fruit We Bear

WHEN AND WHERE: Free workshops: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, July 11, Miami Beach Regional Library, 227 22^nd St., Miami Beach. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, July 12, Vizcaya Village, 3250 S. Miami Ave., Miami. Finale performance: 7 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday, July 25, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, 3251 S. Miami Ave., Miami.

COST: Workshops: Free with online registration. Finale: $15, $10 for children, 6 to 12, free admission for children under 5.

INFORMATION: 305-250-9133 and vizcaya.org/studio

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