Zen and the Art of Art and Inspiration: what’s on first?

Join us for a discussion with American artist Carlos Betancourt and Brandi Reddick, Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Miami Beach.

These events are presented collaboratively by The Betsy Hotel, Florida International University, Miami Beach Urban Studios, and other community partners.

CARLOS BETANCOURT, ARTIST - Carlos Betancourt was born in 1966 in San Juan Puerto Rico and is a mult-disciplinary artist based in Miami Beach, working in a bold and fantastical style, as a painter, photographer, and mixed-media artist.  He creates dynamic and fragmented pictures that merge photographic elements with imagined painted and drawn forms, and his pictures feature a personal aesthetic and iconography he describes as “contemporized graffiti;” the works incorporate elements from his Cuban and African heritage, elevating common visual language to the realm of fine art and explore issues of memory and his own experiences, while also dwelling in matters of beauty, identity and communication.

BRANDI REDDICK, CULTURAL AFFAIRS MANAGER, CITY OF MIAMI BEACH - As Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Miami Beach, Brandi Reddick serves as the municipal liaison to local and international arts and cultural organizations. She manages citywide cultural activities in all aspects of the performing and visual arts through an extensive set of grant programs, special projects and policy-setting initiatives and she oversees the City’s Cultural Arts Grants programs and public art commissions. Brandi Reddick has lived in Miami for nearly two decades. She received her B.A in Art History from the College of Charleston and completed graduate coursework in Art History and Painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She has been adjunct lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami and has produced catalogues on public art as well as contributed essays to multiple national and international publications.