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Beginning the Year with Vision, Reflection & Intention |
As 2026 got underway, Miami MoCAAD entered the season grounded in reflection and energized by possibility. Building on the momentum of our 10th anniversary, this period offered space to set intentions, deepen conversations, and re-center our commitment to amplifying African diasporic art and cultural memory. Through continued digital engagement and community connection, we stepped into the year with clarity and purpose.
Throughout this past month, Miami MoCAAD focused on strengthening relationships, honoring artistic legacies, and laying the groundwork for the months ahead. With renewed vision and collective care, we move further into 2026 committed to storytelling, innovation, and the ongoing work of preserving and reimagining Black futures.
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Happenings |
Miami MoCAAD’s Interactive Mobile Mural Exhibition transforms public spaces into living archives—where art educates, culture is preserved, and communities are energized.
Now on view through March 2026, “Telling Overtown Stories, Saying Their Names” brings three mobile, interactive murals into the lobby of North Dade Regional Library (2455 Northwest 183rd Street, Miami Gardens, FL 33056). The library lobby has been transformed into a living archive of Black Miami’s history, featuring three interactive mobile murals that bring Overtown’s stories to life through art, oral histories, and augmented reality.
The exhibition presents replicas of permanent murals from Historic Overtown, with QR codes that allow visitors to hear directly from community members, historians, artists, and cultural leaders. Together, these immersive experiences honor Overtown—often called the “Harlem of the South”—while acknowledging both its cultural contributions and the lasting impacts of displacement and development.
FEATURED WORKS:
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“OVERtown: Our Family Tree” by Anthony “Mojo” Reed II
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“International Longshoremen Local 1416” by Reginald O’Neal
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“Overtown Pitch: Game Changers” by Stefan Smith
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Miami MoCAAD’s ARt+Tech Workshops are a vital part of our work, creating spaces where art, technology, and cultural memory intersect. These workshops empower students to engage with creative tools, including virtual reality, digital storytelling, and interactive media as ways to explore identity, history, and community. By making emerging technologies accessible and culturally grounded, the program expands opportunities to create, document, and imagine the future of art. The ARt+Tech Workshops reflect Miami MoCAAD’s commitment to
innovation, education, and expansion of pathways for new generations of artists and cultural producers.
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Miami MoCAAD’s Weekly Artist Feature is a central point of connection between our audience and the vibrant practices of artists across the African diaspora. Through consistent, thoughtfully curated spotlights, we amplify a wide range of artistic voices, offering deeper insight into the work, histories, and creative approaches shaping contemporary art today. Each feature invites audiences into an ongoing process of discovery, encouraging them to engage more closely with the artists and ideas that define our mission.
The Weekly Artist Feature also strengthens our growing digital community by encouraging audiences to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, where featured artists are shared alongside programming updates, critical reflections, and cultural resources.
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This digital guide is available for free and easy viewing on desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile.
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Subscribers to the Weekly Artist Feature gain access to our downloadable digital guide, 10 Artists to Watch. The guide highlights both emerging and established artists whose practices reflect innovation, cultural depth, and global relevance.
This January, Miami MoCAAD honors pivotal histories of liberation, sovereignty, and collective struggle across the African diaspora and the Global South. We recognize Haiti 🇭🇹 (January 1)—a foundational moment in global Black history marking the birth of the world’s first independent Black republic—alongside Sudan 🇸🇩 (January 1) and Cameroon 🇨🇲 (January 1), each commemorating significant passages into nationhood and self-determination. We also honor Ecuador 🇪🇨 (January 10), marking its declaration of independence and the broader liberation movements that shaped Latin America.
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses crowds during the March On Washington on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It was here where he gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Photograph by Central Press/Getty
The month offered opportunities for reflection through the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, honoring a legacy rooted in justice, collective care, and the ongoing work of liberation. Together, these January commemorations highlighted how movements for freedom—across nations and communities—continue to shape artistic expression, cultural memory, and global diasporic futures.
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January Birthdays
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At Miami MoCAAD, celebrating artists means honoring the moments that shape their lives and legacies. We recognize Black artists whose creativity and influence continue to inspire communities across generations and geographies.
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Portrait of Kwame Brathwaite | Photo courtesy of the Lucies Awards
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Kwame Brathwaite (b. January 1, 1938 – d. April 1, 2023) was an American photographer and cultural activist best known for documenting the Black Is Beautiful movement of the 1960s and 1970s. As co-founder of the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios, he created iconic images celebrating natural Black beauty, fashion, and Black self-representation, challenging Eurocentric beauty standards. His photography is held in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Portrait of Préfète Duffaut | Photo from Musée d'Art Haitien
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Préfète Duffaut (b. January 1, 1923 – d. May 18, 2012) was a Haitian painter associated with the Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince, renowned for his visionary architectural landscapes. Born in Jacmel, Haiti, he created intricate paintings of fantastical cities, ceremonial processions, and spiritual realms inspired by Vodou cosmology and Haitian cultural traditions. A key figure in modern Haitian art, Duffaut’s work is held in major collections, including the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Musée d’Art Haïtien du Collège Saint-Pierre.
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Portrait of Suzanne Jackson | Photograph by Tim Doyon; Courtesy Ortuzar Projects
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Suzanne Jackson (b. January 17, 1944) is an American painter, poet, and educator known for her luminous abstract paintings exploring Black interior life, embodiment, and spirituality. Born in St. Louis and raised in Los Angeles, she co-founded Gallery 32, one of the first Black woman–run galleries on the West Coast. Emerging from the 1960s Black arts scene, her work bridges abstraction and figuration through layered color and fluid forms. Jackson’s art is held in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and LACMA.
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Portrait of Derrick Adams | Courtesy of Movado
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Derrick Adams (b. January 21, 1970)is an American multidisciplinary artist exploring Black identity, leisure, and representation through bold color and graphic form. Born in Baltimore, he works across painting, collage, sculpture, performance, and installation. He is widely known for his Floater series, which reframes Black rest and pleasure as acts of resistance. Adams’ work is held in major collections, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
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Portrait of Belkis Ayón | Courtesy Belkis Ayón Estate
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Belkis Ayón (b. January 23, 1967 – d. September 11, 1999) was a Cuban printmaker renowned for her monumental collographs exploring Afro-Cuban spirituality, the Abakuá society, and gendered power. Born in Havana, she used Abakuá mythology to examine themes of silence, exclusion, and authority. Working primarily in black, white, and gray, Ayón created haunting, mask-like figures that shaped contemporary printmaking and Afro-diasporic art. Her work is held in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Pérez Art Museum Miami.
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Portrait of Mickalene Thomas | Photographed by Adrienne Raquel
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Mickalene Thomas (b. January 28, 1971) is an American contemporary artist known for her large-scale, rhinestone-encrusted paintings that center Black women, beauty, and representation. Born in Camden, New Jersey, she works across painting, photography, collage, and installation, drawing on 1970s interiors, pop culture, and art history. Her work challenges dominant narratives and is held in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Portrait of Collen Maswanganyi | Courtesy of the artist
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Collen Maswanganyi (b. January 17, 1977) is a South African visual artist known for his carved wooden sculptures and painted figures exploring tradition, modernity, and contemporary African identity. Born in Noblehoek near Giyani, Limpopo, he blends ancestral symbolism with everyday life narratives, examining cultural continuity and community memory through wood carving, paint, and mixed media.
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Brain Teaser |
This American sculptor is known for his dynamic welded steel works that blend abstraction, movement, and organic form. Emerging in Chicago during the mid-20th century, his practice draws from music, mythology, civil rights history, and the natural world. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he became one of the most prolific public artists in the United States—and his work is currently on view at the ICA Miami.
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Who is this influential sculptor? Can you identify the artist?
A) Melvin Edwards
B) Richard Hunt
C) Martin Puryear
D) Sam Gilliam
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Black History Month 2026!
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As a museum dedicated to preserving and advancing Black art and culture, Miami MoCAAD is honoring Black History Month through meaningful exhibitions and storytelling rooted in community and lived experience.
This February, we’re highlighting our Mobile Interactive Mural Exhibition, on view at North Dade Regional Library and Miami Country Day School through March 2026—spaces where art, history, and contemporary Black voices come together.
This offers visitors an immersive experience of Overtown’s rich cultural legacy through art, oral histories, and digital storytelling. Using QR codes and augmented experiences, the exhibition amplifies the voices of community members, artists, and cultural leaders while expanding access beyond Historic Overtown.
More is coming your way! Stay updated by subscribing to and following us on our social media channels.
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We’d love to hear from you.
💬 What are you most looking forward to this Black History Month?
Are there artists, themes, or conversations you’d like to see? Drop a comment or send us your suggestions—we’re reading them all!
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Brain Teaser Answer |
If you identified B) Richard Hunt, you are correct!
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Portrait of Richard Hunt | Courtesy of the artist
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Richard Hunt (1935–2023) was a pioneering American sculptor whose welded metal works transformed abstraction through rhythm, motion, and layered symbolism. Based in Chicago, Hunt created more than 160 public sculptures across the U.S., making him one of the most significant public artists of his
generation. His work draws from jazz, literature, mythology, and African American history, often merging industrial materials with lyrical, organic forms.
💡 Did you know? Richard Hunt is currently featured on our Black ARt Near+Far page for his exhibition “Richard Hunt: Pressure” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (December 2, 2025 – March 29, 2026), and was highlighted in our Weekly Artist Feature on January 28, 2026.
Subscribe to our weekly series to discover more artists shaping art history today and test your knowledge with future brain teasers! 👀✨
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Thanks for looking back with us.
Stay tuned for more!
Onward!
The Miami MoCAAD Team
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