Art gallery re-opens in a landmark building in Little Havana

Miami artist Daniel Fila, better known as Krave, is giving El Fresco Art Space a new home.

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The independent gallery and creative hub for contemporary and urban artists has moved into the historic Optica Lopez building on Calle Ocho, a longtime Little Havana landmark.

Optica Lopez was founded in Cuba in 1929 before opening its flagship store in Miami in 1962.

New owners bought the original location on Southwest 12th Avenue, and Krave didn’t like what they had planned for the property.

“Nothing against them, but they had a different vision for the building,” he said. “Of course, rent was going up a lot, but it wasn’t that it wasn’t worth it, it was more that the place was no longer what I wanted it to be. … It’s an identity issue for me more than anything.”

A lack of foot traffic also hindered the original location. El Fresco’s monthly “Vinyl Tuesdays” was successful and brought plenty of visitors, but not enough to offset the lack of visitors on the other days.

The opportunity to move into the former Optica Lopez building was something that the El Fresco team could not pass up. The location is steeped in history.

The famed Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz has her star on the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame located right outside the building. She frequented the location for her optical appointments and to purchase glasses.

The building is set to be demolished to make way for an affordable-housing project sometime in the future.

”When I found out about that, I thought, Hey, you know what? I’ve always been on the chopping block not knowing how long we’re gonna last. It’ll be really special to do something there on Calle Ocho at this historical spot,” he said. “So I put all, all my cards on this one. … We took the co-op, and with the help of all of them and volunteers, we moved in less than a month, got the place going, and expedited all of our permits.”

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The grand opening of El Fresco’s new location at 1340 SW Eighth Street was to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday with another edition of Vinyl Tuesdays. These are themed events where artists only get a month to plan and create their pieces.

READ MORE: Monthly art event gives artists a voice and community in Little Havana

The theme is “8×8,” as in art on an 8-inch-by-8-inch canvas in honor of Calle Ocho.

“ We’ll have over 30 pieces of original art that are extremely grabbable. I mean, eight inches by eight inches, very affordable,” he said before Tuesday. “No, these are not unattainable. These are people that you see on the walls, that you’ll meet … It’s not like a regular exhibition, This is like an artist for artist type of deal.”

Raisse Fernandez is a bus driver who has lived in the Little Havana and Shenandoah neighborhoods all her life. Her family came here in 1962 and established a transportation company in 1965.

She went to Optica Lopez’s first location with her family to get glasses and to get her eyes checked, and has been frequenting the second location ever since.

“ When it was time for me to get glasses, I would shop around and shop around, but there was something that would always bring me back,” she said. “And so now these glasses that I have on now are from the second location that they opened down the street, so I followed them over there. … Different location, but same street and still supporting local businesses.”

She was surprised and happy to see Krave take over the spot and being able to see the old walls, layout and mirrors, but it is still a hard moment for her.

“ I know it’s temporary because this lot was supposedly sold to the city of Miami, so for me, it’s bittersweet because I know it’s not forever again,” she said. “It’s a constant evolution of the neighborhood and what artists and small businesses and small nonprofits have to deal with in Miami’s real estate.”

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This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner WLRN Public Media.