New Street Art Icons Book Marks 15 Years of Wynwood Walls

Developer Jessica Goldman Srebnick pops onto the computer screen from her office in Wynwood. Dressed in a cream-colored ensemble, her appearance stands in stark contrast to the loud painting hanging behind her. The piece, created by artist Dan Kitchener, features large anime characters paired with big, colorful letters. All appear to melt into one another with streaks of spray paint.

Kitchener is one of the many artists who have had the privilege of painting at the coveted Wynwood Walls, the former open-air space that has since transformed into a properly enclosed museum.

"Almost all of the artwork that I have comes from artists who have painted in Wynwood Walls," Goldman Srebnick says excitedly. She turns her camera around to show an office space bursting with eye-catching art.

To celebrate its 15th anniversary, owner and developer Goldman Srebnick worked with publishing house Assouline to produce a 284-page book titled, Street Art Icons: The Story of Wynwood Walls. The book features the works of all 125 artists who have exhibited at the art venue, and its personal essays encapsulate the history of one of Miami's best-known and most frequented neighborhoods.

"I like to say that it's a love story to the street art world," says Goldman Srebnick. She adjusts in her seat and lets her shoulders fall ever so slightly before adding, "And, in a way, it's a love letter to my dad."

Her father, the late Tony Goldman of Goldman Properties, is considered one of the founding fathers of Wynwood as the world knows it today. His influence — and his buildings — turned a warehouse neighborhood into a bustling, world-famous art district.

Street Art begins with a quote from Goldman: "When we look at a space, we see the truth in it. Goldman Properties creates magic in places others overlook."

"When we were exploring Wynwood as an opportunity for a new zone for our company," says his daughter, "we noticed a lot of graffiti in the neighborhood. We look at neighborhoods on a very individual basis, and we take [their] DNA and build upon that with really interesting and creative ideas. And so, true to form, it seemed very natural to elevate and infuse even more creativity and street art into the Wynwood neighborhood, but just in a curated manner."
Wynwood Walls first opened its wrought-iron gates in 2009 with works curated by gallerist Jeffrey Deitch, whom Goldman Srebnick credits for her family's love affair with street art. Deitch was a close personal friend of Tony Goldman. He introduced the elder Goldman to the growing art style while the developer was living in New York.

Goldman curated the art for Wynwood Walls until his death in 2012. Then his daughter took the reins, and she's been at the helm ever since. "It's been a great privilege for me to be able to curate for the last 12 years," she says.

Goldman Srebnick eventually went on to establish the Goldman Global Arts creative collective.

"I never really realized how much I would fall in love with this art form and with this concept of bringing more art to the public and to the community," she says.

The powerhouse CEO grew up in New York City surrounded by art. Both her parents explored creative pursuits — her mother as a designer and her father as a singer.

"It was important to them that we were exposed to those types of things, and instilling in us that sense that creative people need an ecosystem of support," she says. "That sort of created a foundation for what we as a company would become."

Goldman Srebnick is able to curate art and cultivate community through her work at Goldman Properties and Goldman Global Arts. As part of that mission, she actively works to preserve what is traditionally seen as ephemeral art.

Murals are a temporary art form, she explains. They go up one day and often are painted over just as quickly. It's important to preserve the work through documentation, and the best way to do that is through photography.

It took Goldman Srebnick approximately 18 months to complete Street Art Icons. She worked closely with photographers Martha Cooper and Nika Kramer to dive deep into the archives and rummage through thousands of images. Cooper, she notes, has been documenting the murals at Wynwood Walls since 2009.

"The book is really meant to capture the history of what we believe to be one of the largest movements in the art world," she adds. "My hope is that this book is inspiring; that it's hopeful. It's wildly creative, and it's not just a book of pictures. It's a book of history, of dedication, passion, and hard work.

"I truly believe that art just makes things better. It makes communities better. It makes the way we perceive things better. It creates a beautiful energy."

Street Art Icons: The Story of Wynwood Walls. 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 305-442-4408, booksandbooks.com. Admission is free with RSVP via eventbrite.com.