Bad news for mainland-based lovers of art and haters of causeway traffic: Scope Art Fair, which housed its Miami editions during Art Basel in the tents at Midtown up until last year, is moving to Miami Beach in 2013.
"It is with tremendous enthusiasm that SCOPE announces its new location on the sands of Miami Beach," begins the announcement from the fair at its website.
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This year, Scope will take place directly on the beach at 10th and Ocean -- just a few blocks away from the site of the inaugural Untitled Art Fair in 2012. Its 70,000 sq. ft. pavilion will house 100 international exhibitors and 15 "breeder room" galleries, plus curated projects, an outdoor beach lounge overlooking the ocean, and, of course, VIP access. (This is Art Basel season, after all, daahlink.)
In years past, Scope has been among the most successful satellite fairs, both in terms of its jaw-dropping artwork and its hugely popular special events. Last year, the band Metric packed the venue for its party in partnership with Vh1.
Now that Scope has elected to take its talents to South Beach, beachfront satellite fairs could be the Art Basel trend of the next decade. In the meantime, there's apparently a huge empty slot open in Midtown for any upstart fair willing to step into Scope's shoes.
Scope opens Dec. 3 for VIPs, and runs Dec. 4-8 for the general public.
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