The balance sheet of the Miami non-profit body ArtCenter South Florida has ballooned from $2.2m in 2014 to more than $88m this year, and the organisation is in the process of figuring out what to do with its new-found wealth.
“We are now practically the best-endowed organisation in the region,” says executive director María del Valle, “so this is very important.” The group had $2.2m on its balance sheet for 2014, the month before it sold its former home to South Beach TriStar 800, which is co-managed by TriStar Capital and Aby Rosen's RFR Holding, for $88m.
Talks for how to spend the money are in the preliminary stages but have so far focused on creating an education programme and funding public works across Miami. The centre also plans to expand its artist residency scheme, either by sending Miami artists abroad or by welcoming more artists to Miami.
“It’s about as radical a transformation as I can think of for an organisation,” says Gordon Knox, director of the Arizona State University Art Museum. Knox is one of the people who met with del Valle during Art Basel Miami Beach in December to advise the centre on how it might proceed.
