New Location for an Alternative Art Space in the Design District

Swampspace is an alternative art space in Miami’s Design District. The city’s “un-gallery” has recently moved to a new location doubling its size and increasing its visibility to the neighborhood. Swampspace is the brainchild of Oliver Sanchez, an artist and sculpture fabricator who has worked with local and international art stars. The legacy started when Sanchez began welcoming artists to use the extra space in his studio as a venue for their ideas, and the rest is history. “Swampspace was created in response to a need for more community-minded art spaces and venues in the area,” said Sanchez.

Launched in 2008, Swampspace Gallery has been presenting monthly exhibitions of innovative talent for several years. Now at a new location in the Design District, Swampspace will continue to deliver cutting-edge exhibitions for arts lovers of varied lifestyles who come together and share a unique creative experience. The space has become one of the neighborhood’s hidden gems, a grassroots effort that aims to help bring the work of local artists to the community. With essentially no budget of any kind, it has been able hold to a number of exhibitions, performances and events that have showcased emerging and established talent from South Florida.

Swampspace is democratic in its approach to featuring artists. It has become a space for emerging artists to show their work for the first time. It has hosted group shows featuring students from New World School of the Arts and Design Architecture Senior High. At the same time, it also has hosted exhibitions featuring the works of major Miami artists such as Bhakti Baxter and Daniel Arsham. The new location is the third since Swampspace’s inception and unquestionably the best. Its new home is a storefront at 3940 N. Miami Avenue in Miami, FL 33127 in the Design District. The gallery is on a busy street featuring many popular shops and restaurants. The space is just steps away from Locust Projects – an established non-profit alternative art space, and the de la Cruz Collection – showcasing works from the private collection of renowned collectors Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz. The close proximity to two popular art locales allows the new space to have the opportunity to discover new audiences from those who frequent those institutions.

Sanchez says he has a slate of shows and events that are already in the works that will continue to showcase a diverse array of artists from South Florida. He hopes to grow the number of events with the help of a Knight Arts Challenge grant which he is currently a finalist for. While Sanchez says he is hoping Swampspace will grow, he promises that there will be more of the same kind of events that have made the space so unique. More than anything, he hopes that Swampspace will become more of a social club. Places like Swampspace “give you a sense of not only community but also family,” Sanchez said.