PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THE OPENING OF MY LITTLE HAVANA PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT – SAVE MY LITTLE HAVANA

ART DECO WELCOME CENTER MIAMI BEACH                                          OCEAN DRIVE AT 10^TH STREET   6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. THURSDAY AUGUST 24 

Steve Wright will exhibit his Little Havana photography as part of the Local Artist Program hosted by the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) at the Art Deco Welcome Center at Ocean Drive and 10^th Avenue in the heart of Miami Beach.

Artist/Activist/Writer/Planner Steve Wright discovered Miami’s Little Havana as an Ohioan escaping winter in the late 1990s. For more than 20 years, he has lived in a 100-plus-year-old classic home on historic Bryan Park in the Shenandoah section of Little Havana.

Wright shed more than 100 pounds on long walks, photographing Little Havana. His images shy away from famous Calle Ocho and instead highlight the hidden gems among the apartments, homes, churches and businesses of authentic and culturally rich La Pequena Habana.

“My photos are not the most technically perfect, but they are filled with passion,” said Wright, who is a keynote speaker, planner and journalist focused on urban spaces and making them more accessible to people with disabilities. “Miami Beach is the epicenter of historic preservation of hundreds of small, unique, art deco buildings. I want to call attention to the Mediterranean, Art Deco and Old Florida gems in Little Havana. Development pressures could erase these architectural and cultural gems and replace them with soulless modern buildings.”

The exhibit kicks off with a reception 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday Aug. 24 at the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach. Admission to the museum is free for Miami-Dade. The adjacent gift shop will have matted images of Wright’s photography for sale. Art in the exhibit is also for sale, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to MDPL.

About  Miami Design Preservation League. The nonprofit preserves, protects, and promotes the architectural, cultural, social, and environmental integrity of Miami Beach and the surrounding areas.

About  Steve Wright. Wright is an award-winning storyteller and artist. He travels the world speaking about a better built environment for people with disabilities. He worked for the people of Little Havana with the City of Miami. He rescues street cats in La Pequena Habana.

Media Contact: Steve Wright, cell: (305) 776-3231. Email: stevewright64@yahoo.com 

PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THE OPENING OF MY LITTLE HAVANA PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT – SAVE MY LITTLE HAVANA

ART DECO WELCOME CENTER MIAMI BEACH                                          OCEAN DRIVE AT 10^TH STREET   6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. THURSDAY AUGUST 24 

STEVE WRIGHT, VISUAL AND VERBAL STORYTELLER

Steve Wright has earned his living as a storyteller for four decades. He went to journalism school to become a reporter and learned the art of black and white photography – including developing and printing his film – at Kent State University.

Through the years, he honed his skills with film, slides, early digital SLRs and with the increasingly good lenses built into smart phones.

For more than 20 years, the Ohio native has called Miami’s Little Havana home. He bought a careworn but beautiful 1922 home on the southwest corner of historic William Jennings Bryan Park. While fighting to preserve the park from being entirely paved in concrete for an out of scale tennis center, he patiently restored his Spanish Mission-style, hardwood floored, art-filled abode.

Long involved in historic preservation as a journalist, Wright fell in love with the diverse people and architecture of Little Havana. While working for the chair of the Miami City Commission, he supported festivals on Calle Ocho and steered the project that created a linear park from SW 8^th Street to historical Coral Way.

Wright uses his photography to illustrate not only his stories on architecture, planning and placemaking, but also his international speeches on making cities more inclusive for all – especially people with disabilities.

Wright’s speaking/writing/photography assignments have taken him to Istanbul, Paris, Barcelona, Marrakech, Cairo, Lisbon, London, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Medellin, La Antigua, Montevideo and countless major cities in North America.

He spends time each weekend photographing the beautiful, often need of a little TLC, early 20^th century residential and commercial buildings of Little Havana.

PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THE OPENING OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT – SAVE MY LITTLE HAVANA

 ART DECO WELCOME CENTER MIAMI BEACH                                         OCEAN DRIVE AT 10^TH STREET   6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. THURSDAY AUGUST 24 

When I first visited Miami’s Little Havana as an Ohioan escaping winter in the late 1990s, I had no idea it would make such an impact on my life.

I bought a now 100-plus-year-old classic home in the Shenandoah section of Little Havana. It’s been my home on historic Bryan Park for more than 20 years.

I worked nearly a decade for the City Commissioner who represented the diverse area. I reviewed legislation that granted money to preserve a bungalow there.

I have spent endless days documenting the predominantly Mediterranean and Art Deco apartment buildings plus the Spanish-influenced grand homes and Belvedere Bungalows.

I fear that Miami’s relentless growth is pushing Brickell west of I-95. I’ve already seen countless quaint, affordable buildings razed and replaced with ugly, taller, not very affordable monoliths.

You cannot stop progress, but you can protect history and authenticity. This exhibit is in Miami Beach, which has done a world-renowned exemplary job of balancing growth with protecting its famous, incomparable Art Deco District.

I hope this photo exhibition raises awareness of the cultural, architectural and human treasure that is Little Havana.

I wish to inspire historic preservation and adaptive reuse of beautiful early 20^th century buildings.

I do not believe there is political will to create a protected zone like Miami Beach has done for its Art Deco treasures.

I can only pray that a combination of nonprofits and soulful developers, who see value in authenticity, will ensure that the hundreds of treasured buildings will live on well after I have expired. – Steve Wright, Summer 2023