Superblue Miami: A Unique Art Museum Opening in 2021

By Megan Mentuck

Superblue Miami, opening April 2021, will be located in the heart of Miami’s growing Allapattah neighborhood. Unlike your typical art museum, Superblue Miami is an immersive experience in art.

This means that the museum is focused on engaging audiences with experiential art. GoNOMAD spoke with Shantelle Rodriguez, the Director at Superblue Miami, who told us about the museum’s groundbreaking work in immersive art installations.

Rodriguez explained that the Superblue Miami experience begins as soon as visitors enter the building.

They are greeted by the Amsterdam-based artistic studio DRIFT’s installation, Meadow.

Meadow, a kinetic sculpture made up of mechanical flowers, sets the immersive tone of Superblue Miami as soon as the visitor sets foot inside.

Rodriguez spoke to this unconventional approach to art.

“Representing artists working across the spectrum of experiential art, Superblue Miami’s installations offer visitors an unparalleled opportunity to be transported to an array of new worlds in a single visit.”

Transforming 50,000 Square Feet of Industrial Building 

The immersive art experience is curated in what was once a massive unused industrial building. The industrial building is 50,000 square feet with more than 30,000 of that being used now as flexible installation space.

Superblue Miami was able to transform this large unused space into a cultural hub for visitors and residents in South Florida to visit.

The massive size of the space has also allowed for Superblue Miami to present large-scale works in the space which further enables the space to become an immersive experience for visitors rather than a traditional museum.

“Every Wall is a Door”

“Every Wall is a Door” is an introductory program meant to introduce visitors to the grand ideas and themes behind Superblue Miami.

It is also meant to inform visitors of the artistic and technological complexity behind the large-scale immersive art which Superblue Miami showcases.

“Every Wall is a Door” combines work by Es Devlin, teamLab, and James Turrell to create an immersive experience that challenges traditional ways of producing and showcasing art.

Rodriguez explained the art experience: “James Turrell manipulates light and vision to investigate the power of perception, Es Devlin stages complex performative spaces that reveal how we relate to the earth and teamLab grounds us in nature to awaken our sensory response to all living forms.”

Not Your Typical Art Museum—Not a Museum at all!

In typical art museums and galleries, visitors are discouraged from engaging too closely or physically with the art. Rather, we are encouraged to stand back and observe the art from afar.

Not at Superblue Miami! At Superblue Miami, visitors are transformed from passive tourists in the world of art to active participants in it.

Visitors are encouraged to engage with the art because, at Superblue Miami, they are in fact part of it.

An individual’s experience familiarizing themself with the artwork and using their physical surroundings to interpret it is the last key step in completing the work.

Rodriguez explained it the following way, “The artist provides all the elements and sets the stage, but the work is not complete without the active involvement of the visitors who will use their own personal experiences to interpret the work.”

Superblue Miami Collaborations and Partners

One of the main goals of Superblue Miami is to support its experiential artists in their quest to create pieces in this evocative art form and to encourage audiences to engage with the pieces.

Beyond supporting artists by showcasing their work at Superblue Miami, they also help support the world of the arts through different collaborations with museums, architects, festivals, municipalities, and other partners.

This approach allows Superblue Miami to reach beyond their own walls and engage with audiences across different platforms.

Rodriguez provided an example of one of Superblue Miami’s collaborations: “No One is an Island.”

This experimental installation was made possible thanks to BMW i and Studio Wayne McGregor, as well as Superblue Miami.

“No One is an Island” is an experimental art piece by the art group, RANDOM INTERNATIONAL. RANDOM INTERNATIONAL is a Superblue supported artist.

The project digitally premiered in November 2020 and the in-person live experience should happen this upcoming year.

Plan for Your Immersive Experience 

With Superblue Miami’s immersive art experience opening this April, future visitors can look forward to their trip!

Although it may be difficult to imagine the types of pieces that will be showcased at Superblue Miami, you can definitely expect to see experiential art in a large-scale setting.

Pieces will showcase a wide variety of artistic elements that engage audiences with their large scales and unprecedented creativity. The art at Superblue Miami is meant to inspire and captivate its audiences!

If you’re interested, you can check out Superblue Miami’s official website to read more about the philosophy behind their experiential art and the different types of pieces that you’ll be able to see.

When GoNOMAD asked Rodriguez what she was most excited about regarding Superblue’s upcoming opening, she responded.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the community interacts with this new experiential art movement,”

and added,  “We are excited to share our inaugural programming with locals and visitors in Miami.”

So, whether you’re a Miami resident or a Miami visitor, make sure to check out Supeblue Miami this spring to experience art in a way that you never have before!