Fresh voices, new ideas: A changing era for South Florida’s arts scene

When the curtain rises on Miami City Ballet’s new season, audiences will meet a very different “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” — and a ballet company entering a new chapter.

The production, the largest in the company’s history, is one of several ambitious projects Gonzalo Garcia is bringing to the stage in his first full season as artistic director. The company’s long-time mission of producing top-quality programs and new commissions, reflecting Miami’s diverse community remains the same, says Garcia. But the acclaimed dancer, who retired from the New York City Ballet, is aiming even bigger, bolder for the internationally renowned Miami company. “I want the dancers to have the hunger to be artists that represent the very versatile and diverse community that Miami is becoming. “

Garcia is but one of the fresh voices on South Florida’s cultural scene. Across the region, new leadership at local arts institutions are bringing palpable energy, new viewpoints and a willingness to rethink how South Florida’s cultural institutions connect with audiences.

For audiences, it means ambitious new presentations designed to serve long-time locals, wealthy newcomers and visitors.

Consider:

Last spring’s “American Dance Odyssey,” an ambitious collaboration between the New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet that paired contemporary dance with symphonic music in five new works.

The Miami Film Festival’s free Spotlight on Cuba program, incorporating the Cuban Cinema Series directed by critic and author Alejandro Ríos.

Perez Art Museum Miami’s rich roster of exhibitions during the 2026 summer months, previously considered a dead season.

A three-night outdoor festival of voice presented by Florida Grand Opera, featuring opera in movies, a full-length performance of the “Barber of Seville” and remix evening combining opera with reggae, jazz and Latin sounds.

For arts organizations, the leadership changes come as wealthy new residents have swept into the region, driven by favorable tax codes and recognition of the region’s cosmopolitan allure. At the same time, many of the pioneers whose vision and zeal brought Miami global cultural acclaim have retired.

Kristina Newman-Scott, Knight Foundation Vice President /Arts, sees this as a rare moment. “It’s an opportunity to hear from new voices, to challenge how things have always been done. To take more calculated risks and see things through new lenses and be excited about that.”

But transformation can be unsettling, acknowledges Ashlee Thomas, who was named cultural director of Miami-Dade County in July. “It’s both exciting and it’s nerve-wracking, because you’re used to things being a certain way. And when new voices do come in, they bring new perspectives.”

Careful approach

Change also comes with natural risks that can be treacherous at a time of uncertain government funding. The last two years have been fraught with funding cuts on federal, state and local levels, leaving many groups with funding holes to plug and limited recourse. Cultural organizations are moving thoughtfully.

At the New World Symphony, for instance, long-time President and CEO Howard Herring announced his departure six months before he retired last June, giving staff and the board of directors time to prepare. A search for his replacement is underway.

At Florida Grand Opera, Maria Todaro was hired as interim CEO and general director before being named to the permanent post in 2024.

Miami-Dade County did the same, promoting Thomas, then-deputy director to interim director when its seminal leader, Michael Spring, retired in 2025. Thomas brought rich experience, with undergraduate degrees and business and master’s degrees in fine arts and public administration. Prior to becoming an administrator, she danced professionally for two decades. After a year as interim director, she was appointed to the permanent post in July 2026.

Perez Art Museum Miami avoided the culture shock that sometimes strikes those new to Miami. It’s new senior director of curatorial affairs and chief curator, Jose Carlos Diaz, was born in Miami and interned at the Rubell Collection, worked at a local gallery and curated projects from his Edgewater apartment before moving to Europe. An impressive career followed, with positions at the Tate Modern, Pittsburgh’s Warhol Museum and the Seattle Art Museum before coming to PAMM in fall of 2025.

“We have such a large and robust art scene now in Miami. That’s why I came back,” Diaz says.

But measured deliberation isn’t always an option. Garcia’s appointment to the ballet came in fall 2025, six months after the unexpected resignation of his predecessor. Thanks to the company’s stellar international reputation, the opening attracted 40 top candidates. The ballet board then sought an executive director whose strategic skills fit the company’s new vision. In July, Scott Altman joined the company after impressive tenures at the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Cincinnati Ballet.

The New World Symphony’s prestige puts it in a similar position. When the symphony sought a successor to co-founder and legendary conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, it chose Stéphane Denève, whose joyful approach and international standing fit the style of the nation’s premiere orchestral academy. While the orchestra’s board would not comment on the search for Herring’s replacement, “it is clear that it is a very attractive position,” said Denève, who was named the symphony’s artistic director in 2022.

“We owe Howard [Herring] for a lot of the successes today…One cannot wish for a replica, and that’s a good thing. But I think we can hope for someone very special again. He made the position very attractive, so I can tell you that many people want to replace him.”

Another factor, says Denève, is the city’s growing reputation. “I think we are again in a golden era for Miami.’’

The region’s momentum was part of the attraction for Philippe Vergne, who will soon join The Bass in Miami Beach in the newly created post of artistic director and chief curator. The former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Dia Art Foundation in New York, was leading Portugal’s Serralves Contemporary Art Museum when Bass museum’s executive director Silvia Karman Cubiña broached the idea. The museum’s expansion plans played into his decision. “This is a very specific moment, to expand in a city which is itself expanding,” he said.

Funding challenges, thinking differently

But even in this golden moment, South Florida’s cultural organizations are facing challenges of financial stability. The pandemic was followed by sharp cuts in government funding. Many of the tech billionaires and other wealthy newcomers who have surged into the region are unfamiliar with Miami’s arts institutions. Engaging support is no easy task.

“One of the things that I have discovered is that not everybody is aware of Miami City Ballet as an incredible arts institution,” says Garcia. “People, when they think of art institutions that are of that caliber, they think New York, they think bigger cities.”

Garcia is on a mission to change that. So, too, is the county’s cultural affairs office, where Thomas and her team work with new residents to find the arts organizations that match their individual passions.

The county is also encouraging nonprofits to diversify their revenue sources by developing business services that leverage their expertise.

“Arts organizations have always done live experiences, but now brands are looking to bring those experiences to their members, to their patrons. We want to put our arts and cultural groups at the intersection of that.”

Both the county and the Knight Foundation frequently bring arts leaders together to explore synergies and plan strategically for the future.

Says the Knight Foundation’s Newman-Scott, “Miami is shifting. Generations are changing. We have to create space for all of it. We have to have different ways of working.”

Miami’s new leaders are primed. While arts organizations elsewhere may see one another as competitors, Miami is leaning into collaboration.

Cultural directors often attend show openings staged by arts colleagues throughout the region. Philanthropists including Sarah Arison, Jorge Perez and Chloe Berkowitz often reach beyond organizations founded by their families to help other arts non-profits.

Last year, GableStage, Island City Stage and Brévo Theatre co-produced “Fat Ham,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning riff on Hamlet. Miami New Drama and the Rubell Museum collaborated to create “Museum Plays,” a collection of dramatic vignettes inspired by artworks. For the past several years, Perez Art Museum Miami has partnered with American DanceMakers on an annual performance series. New World Symphony’s upcoming performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem will feature the Master Chorale of South Florida.

When James Woolley took over as Miami Film Festival Executive Director in 2024, he focused on inclusivity. His approach: “This is the city’s festival, and let’s bring every organization we can under the umbrella and celebrate what we’ve got going on.” Since then, Miami Film Festival has worked with Films from Peru, the LGBTQ festival Outshine, Caribbean film festival Stone Horizon and the French, Italian and Irish consulates to host screenings and events.

Following the success of American Dance Odyssey, Denève and Garcia are enthusiastic about future collaborations between the symphony and ballet.

Says Denève, “I think the future is about creating immersive experiences that will bring different art forms together. There is a new energy for this in Miami.”