Photo by Marais Hernandez/Yamila Images
Audio By Carbonatix
It’s a busy Saturday at the Art Deco Museum in Miami Beach. Nail artist Kro Vargas quietly sits at a table set up as her nail station, surrounded by posters advertising her latest exhibition, “Nail Art: A Cultural Expression,” at HistoryMiami downtown. Vargas’ setup is part of the city’s Art Deco weekend celebration, where she’s showcasing her art — live.
As passersby gawk at her talent, Vargas steadily holds her client’s hand and begins to paint. She’s hunched over her cellphone studying an image of a heron, a long-necked bird depicted on glass bus stops throughout Miami-Dade, and a popular species in Art Deco imagery. Vargas paints completely freehand, just eyeing her inspiration closely. Her canvas of choice is ten tiny nails.
Vargas was born in New York City but grew up in Miami. As a kid, she’d customize items in her or her friends’ closets. Clothes, shoes, bags, you name it — she could turn it into art. “Once I started doing nails, that became my main focus. I was fixated on it,” Vargas says.
What began as a hobby eventually became her passion, and after high school, Vargas went to beauty school to become a nail technician. She worked at salons for years, improving her craft. In 2020, she went solo. Over the past six years, she’s seen select clients in her home and worked out of a station at Spring with Friends Salon twice a week.
When asked why she likes nails, her response is simple: “They look so cute.”
“Some people are attracted to hair or makeup; I was always attracted to nails.”
A lot of her designs take inspiration from her childhood, specifically ‘90s R&B and the fashion of the early aughts. “I would describe my style as very extra,” Vargas says cheekily. “I like to be as feminine as possible and have my designs exude confidence and just be like a conversation starter. It’s attention-grabbing nail art.”
Vargas boasts more than 113,000 followers on Instagram, and she still recalls the nail set that catapulted her to viral fame in 2020. She calls the set of Fiji water-inspired nails — complete with the matching toes — her most ambitious. It took her about nine hours to complete. “That’s as extra as I can get,” the artist says with a laugh. Ordinarily, it takes her three to four hours to complete a set, which can cost clients an average of $250 or upwards of $800.
It was the viral Fiji set that caught the attention of Dr. Jillian Hernandez, Associate Professor at the University of Florida. Hernandez was working on a documentary about nail art culture, and she interviewed Vargas as one of her subjects. The film, Nail Tech: Portrait of an Artist, screened at HistoryMiami in 2025. It was through the documentary and Hernandez’s Full Set Project that Vargas met Vanessa Navarro Maza, folklife curator at HistoryMiami.
“We have an Artist in Residence series where we highlight expert cultural and traditional artists,” says Navarro Maza, standing off in a corner at the Art Deco Museum. After the fateful introduction by Dr. Hernandez, she invited Vargas to be a part of the program.
Marveling at Vargas’ talent at a nearby table, Navarro Maza says, “This is like an expert artist working at a level that once you see the process, you really understand it.”
Navarro Maza compares the work of nail artists to street artists. Both are ephemeral, capturing moments that only exist for a moment. Once a wall is painted over, the art piece is gone. Once a month or two go by, it’s time to get your nails done again.
The exhibit, in the museum’s folklife gallery, traces Vargas’ growth — and skills — as an artist. From her first nail board from beauty school to her first set of nails to three custom sets, her creativity is on full display. “You really see her journey as someone who grew up in Miami just interested in nail art, and then how she just took it to another level,” adds Navarro Maza.
The curator explains how, in addition to the works on display, Vargas herself handled the art direction of the entire exhibit, down to the pouring of resin. “It’s been really exciting to provide a space for her to be able to do something beyond just creating these incredible nail sets,” Navarro Maza says proudly.
Vargas is the first-ever nail artist in HistoryMiami’s Artist in Residence program. The experience has made her see that she has more to offer as an artist.
“I would like to branch out from just nails and keep pushing,” she says. But she’s quick to add that she’ll always use nail supplies to create art — there’s just something comforting about it.
Nail Art Techniques Workshop. 1 p.m., Sunday, February 8, at Spring with Friends Salon, 8325 NE Second Ave., Miami. Admission costs $65 with registration via historymiami.org.
Nail Art: A Cultural Expression. On view through April 16 at HistoryMiami, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami. 305-375-1492; historymiami.org. Museum admission costs $15 for adults.
