Amid severe backlash, extensive criticisms, and an ongoing boycott by the local arts community regarding alleged censorship, Oolite Arts has decided to cancel all programming until the end of the year. This decision will affect all Oolite Arts-related endeavors and efforts, including the Ellie Awards, the annual program that provides grants to local Miami visual artists.
The Miami Beach nonprofit arts organization, announced this decision in a July 23 email from interim CEO Maggy Cuesta, which was sent to resident artists and released in part to the public via Miami Arts Accountability (MAA) on social media. Miami Arts Accountability (MAA) is the organization leading the boycott.
In the email, Cuesta wrote, “Over the past two months, the board and leadership of Oolite Arts have heard from many in the arts community who have urged us to pause and reflect on the recent controversy regarding the Walgreens’ exhibition and examine our processes and procedures in how we interact with and support artists. As a result, we are pausing much of our programming through the end of the year to allow time and space for evaluation and reflection.”
This is all about the controversial removal of artwork by Vũ Hoàng Khánh Nguyên from the Walgreens above exhibition, which initiated a backlash from artists and critics alike. The controversy dates back to May when Oolite board chair Maria Elena Angulo ordered Vũ’s artwork removed in response to complaints from Jewish Miami Beach residents over its central image, the phrase “From the river to the sea.”
This phrase is politically charged about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as the phrase is often lengthened to “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The phrase is widely viewed as a rallying cry in support of Palestinian independence. However, others claim that the phrase is instead a call for genocide against Jews, which is what led guests to take umbrage with the art.
The controversy led to removing the art and Esther Park and Munisha Underhill as interim co-directors. Cuesta assumed the intermediate leadership role while Oolite continues to look for its new president and CEO after Dennis Scholl stepped down in 2023. The removal also caused artists at Oolite and the broader community to publish an open letter demanding Angulo’s resignation, which Oolite’s board continues to ignore. The group later organized as MAA and launched its boycott after Oolite issued a statement defending the artwork’s removal.
Several protesting artists also created a replacement work in the same space, titled Killing the Flowers Will Not Delay Spring, which was on view for several days in June before Oolite covered all the windows.
Cuesta announced that exhibitions, programming, and art classes beyond those already scheduled would be canceled and that Oolite would relaunch in December for Art Basel Miami Beach to mark the organization’s 40th anniversary. However, this leaves the Ellies within the cancellation period.
The Ellies, which award up to $500,000 annually, will be available in spring 2025. To add insult to injury, at that time, any artists who applied for the coveted grants this year will need to reapply.
The decision to actively avoid providing funds to local artists while prioritizing returning to business-as-usual in time for a glorified anniversary has not gone uncriticized.
On Instagram, MAA accused Oolite of “doubling down and putting up storm shutters for the year as they continue to refuse to meet with artists nor address any of our concerns, instead choosing to flex for Basel visitors and then have a year-long 40th-anniversary party.”
