JUST IN TIME FOR ART BASEL MIAMI

 A POP UP ART SHOW IN THE HEART OF LITTLE HAVANA

--WHEN THE ART WORLD IS FOCUSED ON THE MAGIC CITY

I’m honored to be one of the featured artists at Art & Design Gallery’s event during Art Basel Miami.

It takes place 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday December 8 and Saturday December 9 at 2380 SW 9 Street Miami – footsteps from my historic Little Havana home and just a block south of wonderful Calle Ocho.

The free event will feature art displays and sales, live music, food and more at Art by Hurley.

RSVP at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/miami-art-exhibit-tickets-764844840507

SAUDADES

ANTHOLOGICAL CONTEMPLATIONS ON THE SAUDADE

OF PERSONS, PLACES AND TIME

So proud to be one of the artists included in the Saudades Project.

Thanks to Amy Serrano of Siren for putting so much of her creative energy into this book.

I can only hope that a gallery in Miami could host an exhibit of the works displayed in the upcoming book.

TRAVEL BROADENS THE MIND

AND INCREASES EMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS

In the past two years, I have had the good fortune to visit Rome, Paris, Istanbul, Naples, Ait Ben Haddou, Oaxaca, Marrakech and USA destinations too numerous to list.

In the past decade, I have been to Argentina, Uruguay, Brazl, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guanajuato and several other destinations in South, Central and Spanish-speaking North America.

Each time, I have come back with not just an exposure to great architecture, cuisine, art and culture -- but also an increased empathy for others.

I grew up very sheltered in the Midwest. My family's idea of a far away foreign nation was Canada -- crossing the bridge in Niagra Falls back in pre 911 days when they barely looked at your ID. A big cultural exposure was driving the station wagon to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I my journeys, I have formed an intense appreciation for all people of all abilities/disabilities, religions/no religion, gender/gender identity/orientation, race/ethnicity, etc.

My solemn wish, from the White House to the local person who hides behind hatred in online comments to news stories and in angry/hurtful social media blasts, is that 2020 will be a year when we can all embrace our humanity, appreciate our diversity and practice the Golden Rule.

CELEBRATING 205,000 READERS

+ MY ONLY SIBLING'S 51ST BIRTHDAY

First off, Happy Birthday to my successful brother Keith.

His 51^st was on the 20^th of August.

Our dad died a few years ago and mom has dementia – so my baby bro is about all I have left of the Wright family.

His photo is below.

We’re proud to have more than 205,000 unique visitors to this blog.

We have posted more than 2,300 stories to it.

For the past three years, we have posted highlights of the blog daily on Twitter and Facebook.

We continue to focus on travel, urban design, wheelchair access and human rights advocacy.

In 2019, we have stepped up the advocacy for the human rights of people with disabilities.

With the current state of affairs in Washington, DC – we have to.

But we continue to have a lust for life, so there have been plenty of travel images and stories from Paris, Marrakech and far beyond.

Thanks for visiting and please share this blog with someone you know.

My brother Keith -- fishing in Virginia Beach for his 51st birthday

TODAY WE CELEBRATE 200,000 READERS -- AND A THIRD OF A CENTURY WITH SOULMATE HEIDI

HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IN LESS THAN A DECADE, 

MORE THAN 200,000 UNIQUE VISITORS ARE READING THIS BLOG

We have published more than 2,300 stories with pictures.

We have posted these daily to Twitter and Facebook, to boost exposure.

More than 500 of the articles have focused on human rights, such as advocacy for people with disabilities.

Nearly 1,000 have explored urban design, planning, zoning, architecture, landscape architecture and transportation engineering issues.

We are nearing our 1,000^th story on travel – to Turkey, France, Africa, Spain, England, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada and far beyond.

We couldn’t have done this without the support of our partner of more than three decades – Heidi Johnson-Wright.  

She is my cherished wife, travel partner and advocate for a better quality of life for wheelchair users.

She has contributed more than 10 percent of the articles in this blog, ranging from travel pieces to memoir-like essays to music and book reviews.

Visit her blog at:

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/

MORE THAN 125,000 READERS

More than 125,000 unique readers have visited this blog for photography, commentary, travel journalism, urban design ideas and advocacy for people with disabilities.

We have more readers than the weekday circulations of some major daily newspapers.

We have taken readers to Istanbul, New Orleans, Panama, Florence, New York, Medellin, Santo Domingo, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Ohio, Nicaragua, Philadelphia, Ecuador, Nevada, Costa Rica, Utah, Mexico City, Chicago, Spain and beyond.

99% of all photos are taken by Steve Wright.

The image for this celebratory day was taken on the warmest Christmas day on record in New Orleans.

MORE THAN 30,000 READERS!

THE ONLY BLOG ON EARTH THAT COMBINES ARCHITECTURE, URBAN TRAVEL, SUSTAINABILITY 
AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

We close out the month of October by thanking the more than 30,000 people who read this blog.

You are diverse.

You have visited from more than 100 different nations.

Some of you are not native English speakers, but you visit our site and practice your second language -- or paste our information into online translator services -- to read our original content.

Thousands of you have contacted us personally for advice on planning wheelchair-accessible vacations.

Hundreds of leading hotels, museums, theaters and other attractions have reached out to us for advice on how to better accommodate people with disabilities.

We have resisted the offers to advertise on our blog.

We continue to provide unbiased and opinionated reportage on urban planning, progressive architecture, websites, sustainability, books and other aspects of urban life and mobility.

Thank you for reading our daily posts and please tell your friends about us.       

OUR 900TH POST!

THE ONLY BLOG ON EARTH THAT COMBINES ARCHITECTURE, URBAN TRAVEL, SUSTAINABILITY 
AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

Welcome to our 900th post!

For nearly three years, we have posted daily to this blog that explores the best of urban living -- at home and on the road -- while exploring universal design for wheelchair users and other people with disabilities.

We have taken you to Italy, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Canada, England, the Bahamas and dozens of sites around the United States.

More than 90% of the photos are from the original fine art photography collection of Steve Wright Photography.

Many of the book, music and fashion reviews are from the brilliant mind of Heidi Johnson-Wright, an award-winning author and one of the top Americans with Disabilities Act experts in the English-speaking world.

One hundred percent of our postings consists of original material.

Unlike other blogs, we do not simply paste in bits of news stories from national outlets.

Nor do we ever lift material from other blogs -- as many other blogs do to get free and easy content.

Not here.

We write every day and we appreciate the tens of thousands who read our material.