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ANTICIPATION As the international art world looks ahead to next month's Art Basel Miami Beach, show directors Marc Spiegler and Annette Schönholzer discuss the continued success of this global gathering of artists, galleries, curators, and collectors. BY SUE HOSTETLER When the owners of the Swiss art show Art Basel first brought a stateside version of the show to Miami Beach in 2002, they were gambling on whether the contemporary art community would support a tropi- cal frontier. The fair was an immediate success, and in the last 10 years Art Basel Miami Beach has become arguably the most influential show in the Americas—framing a ritualistic week on the calendar of every top collector, curator, museum director, and art aficionado. The show has swelled to include more than 260 international galleries, featuring an ambitious program that now boasts outdoor and public video, sculpture, and performance. Art Basel Miami Beach also helped spawn a cultural renaissance of sorts across South Florida: Blue-chip collectors opened private spaces, public institutions have been commissioned or revitalized (the Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, and the Miami Science Museum are all currently building new homes), and the Wynwood Arts District and Design District blossomed with galleries, furniture boutiques, and artist studios. "It was an exciting decade—not only for the show but also for Miami Beach," says Annette Schönholzer, who along with Marc Spiegler has served as codirector of the show since 2008. "The city evolved from being the winter destination for art lovers into a year-round cultural hot spot." The show itself, held within the Miami Beach Convention Center, has matured as well. "The quality of the galleries exhibiting has increased significantly and so has the diversity," adds Spiegler. "People have come to take the show quite seriously, saving great material and planning their booths all year long. Also, the Miami Beach edition was originally established in part as a link between North and South America. Over the past few years we have seen this dream come truly to fruition—in terms of our exhibitors, their artists, and their collectors." (Last year there were a record 26 Latin American exhibitors.) Spiegler and Schönholzer are also taking the world's continued financial struggles in stride. "The art market is undoubtedly tied to the ebb and flow of the global eco- nomic conditions, and that has its effects, especially on the younger galleries and emerging artists," says Spiegler. "On the other hand, there are pockets that are still buzzing, and Latin America is one of them. All over the world, artists are constantly emerging and being strongly pursued by cura- tors and collectors. At the same time, many galleries in New York, Paris, and London are expanding, and the number of people interested in art and buying art is increasing over time. Everywhere you look, you see ambition, not retreat." Indeed, with the immense proliferation of art fairs, it is no secret that Art Basel Miami Beach directors Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler. ART PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND PAUL KASMIN GALLERY (SAITO); COURTESY OF ART BASEL (PORTRAIT)