Letter From The MDPL Chair

WELCOME TO THE 2022 EDITION OF ART DECO WEEKEND!

Our theme this year is “Art Deco Celebrates the Radio.” We are commemorating the importance of the Radio, the principle means of mass communication during the Art Deco period. The Radio and Art Deco grew up together and informed each other. And Radio design often reflected the Art Deco movement, resulting in some of the most iconic and beautiful furnishings to be found in the homes of the period.

Our lecture series will reflect this theme, including Peter Sheridan’s ondemand virtual talk on “The Most Beautiful Radios Ever Made,” Danielle Shapiro’s lecture on John Vassos at the Wolfsonian-FIU, and A. Brad Schwartz’s on-demand virtual talk on “Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News.”

Spend the weekend with us, taking in the beautifully preserved hotels along Ocean Drive, the commercial buildings on Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue, the apartment buildings in the Flamingo Park neighborhood and the single family homes west of the Park. You can explore all of this yourself or you can take tours led by our trained tour guides.

The MDPL staff, volunteers, and Board have more activities for you than you can possibly fit into your ADW schedule - music, food, shopping, guided tours, films, lectures and more. I personally recommend the Jazz Age Art Deco VIP Lounge, the Ocean Drive walking tour, the Flamingo Park neighborhood House Tour, the Artisan Market along Ocean Drive, and our series of Art Deco films at O Cinema South Beach. You can find the details for all these events in this Program Guide. And there’s lots more to choose from.

And don’t forget to visit the official MDPL Gift Shop in the Welcome Center. It has been completely reimagined and reorganized and is now the best shopping experience to be found anywhere on Miami Beach!

HAVE A GREAT ART DECO WEEKEND!

Jack Johnson, Chair of the Board Miami Design Preservation League