When the art world—and the brands that love it—descends on Art Basel Miami Beach, event marketers try to honor the heritage of the massive gathering even though some guests may not even make it to the art fair itself. Most events incorporate art: some present visual artists creating new work, while others invite guests to join in. Performing arts also play a role, from concerts and DJ sets to otherworldly costumed entertainers.
Here's a look at the most visual things we spotted at the events surrounding Art Basel, Design Miami, Scope Miami Beach, and other art fairs that took place December 2 to 8.
The Official VH1 & Scope Party, now in its third year, incorporated the event's plus-shaped logo into the stage design and lighting. VH1 and parent company Viacom produced the event, which was held at Mansion nightclub on December 5. The plus signs were made up of nexus light squares and would flash, show patterns, or change color to suit the music.
A series of events drew more than 6,000 people to the National YoungArts Foundation campus during Art Basel. Programming included the YoungArts and III Points Presents Art Basel Miami Beach music series with artists such as FKA Twigs and James Blake; the gatherings took place in a tent on the YoungArts Campus.
The Teepee Project, featuring two 22-foot hand-painted teepees by artists Jen Stark and Misaki Kawai, were on display at Mondrian South Beach from December 2 to 14. The hotel launched the project with a dinner party on the property.
Paper magazine celebrated its "Break the Internet" issue featuring Kim Kardashian at the parking garage event space 11 11 Lincoln Road. Title sponsor HP integrated its Sprout workstation into several activities for guests. The devices were preloaded with photos of the 200 guests, who could then place their face on content from the issue. Guests could also create their own propaganda to run for "President of the Internet," a feature in from the magazine. Another activity invited guests to fill out their own Mr. Mickey Questionnaire, a take on the "Reserved" feature by editorial director Mickey Boardman. Finally, guests could scan props such as fruit and flamingos to create “wish you were here” postcards. In addition, four artists created live art at the heads of each table using the devices.
For dinner, Manhattan Neon created the table runner, which incorporated press quotes from the likes of Vanity Fair, Time, CBS News, and others about Paper's "Break the Internet" issue. Jessica Boncutter from Bar Jules in San Francisco curated and designed the menu, which then was executed by Bill Hansen Catering.
Following a collaboration at Frieze London, BMW i and Soho Beach House again hosted an art talk and reception to mark Art Basel Miami Beach. DJ Brendan Fallis set up in front of drawings of the BMW i series electric cars at the December 2 event.
Street artist Mr. Brainwash painted a 2015 Maserati GranTurismo at the Art, Speed, and Design event hosted by Italian design house Pininfarina on December 6 at the luxury car showroom and art gallery Lou La Vie. Pininfarina is opening its first United States office in Miami and also used the event to show off its designs.
Cars also factored into the Revolt Blended Cultures event held December 6 at Miami's Brisky Gallery. Guests who tweeted with the #MakeYourMark hashtag would trigger a paintball that splattered onto a canvas behind a Toyota Corolla. A screen displayed the Twitter handle of the guest as the paintball fired.
The event for the youth-oriented TV music network also featured live painting, with artist Demont Pinder creating images of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, two unarmed black youths who were shot to death.
Karla Conceptual Event Experiences catered a V.I.P. preview of 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, a luxury development slated to open next year. The December 5 brunch included passed hors d'oeuvres such as fresh Florida avocado tartare over colorful tuber crisps with hackleback caviar and crème fraiche.
For the preview, Plant the Future provided installations that covered the theme of nature as art. The theme worked well with 1 Hotel & Homes, which has an eco-friendly ethos.
A floating terrarium installation by Plant the Future incorporated succulents and other flora set in sand. It overlooked a chalkboard that was marked with relevant event hashtags.
Architectural Digest brought back its AD Oasis for the fourth year, this time designed by Thom Filicia. The outdoor lounge at the James Royal Palm hotel offered comforts such as foosball and mobile charging stations from AT&T Wireless as well as inspiring design such as the Sunbrella Rope installation.
The AD Oasis hosted a full slate of programming December 4 to 6 and worked with art partners such as Indiewalls to create art on site. Artist Mike Serafino painted a vibrant beach scene from a space near the entrance of the event.
Sponsor Caesarstone provided stone surfaces for the bars—as well as a custom ping-pong table. Bright blue paddles featured the company's logo as well as the event's logo.
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade hosted an event to launch his Third Element sneakers, which he designed with Alejandro Ingelmo and Li-Ning. Divine Delicacies created a cake replica of the gold-hued sneakers.
A number of performers, including a nearly nude model who sported the sneakers, provided outre entertainment for the 350 guests. The event was produced by Funkshion Productions.
The event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach, included aerialists, strolling tables, talking doorways, and other performers.
Located next to the Scope Miami Beach fair, the Heienken House Live Art Pyramid consisted of 12 walls that were painted by various artists over a six-day period. The structure measured more than 35 feet tall and featured the artists' names and Twitter handles.
A colorful and well-stocked champagne cart made the rounds at a pool party at the Shore Club sponsored by Perrier-Jouët. The H.wood Group and John Terzian renamed the property the "Bootsy Bellows Hotel" and hosted a number of pop-up performances and events during Art Basel. The pool party was the final event on Sunday.
Guests gathered for brunch and cocktails followed by the groundbreaking for the One Thousand Museum residential building, which is being designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The walls of the space were covered in custom murals by Jona Cerwinske.
Jona Cerwinske designed a custom DJ booth for the Art & Architecture Experience kickoff party on December 4, which preceded the One Thousand Museum groundbreaking.
Petit Pois Events and Catering produced the party as well as the groundbreaking and created an ice bar that was used at both events.
Swarovski hosted a dinner to celebrate its commissioned installation from architect Jeanne Gang, "Thinning Ice," for Design Miami. About 125 guests attended the Shiraz Events-designed December 2 event at Cecconi’s at Soho Beach House.
The tabletops had loose Swarovski crystals strewn across it, as well as Swarovski glitter box lanterns and crystal job lots in blue hues. Another crystal element: DJ Alex Merrell wore crystallized Swarovski headphones throughout the evening.
Danish singer-songwriter Nabiha (pictured) performed at the show, as did Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean.
Sponsor AT&T invited guests to contribute to a digital graffiti wall at the Official VH1 & Scope Party.
Artist and calligrapher Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic hand-painted hundreds of feet of Japanese synthetic paper, creating an art installation that event planners described as the longest continuous painting shown during this year's art fairs.
Sponsor Fiat revived a classic guessing game by inviting guests to estimate the number of beach balls crammed in its Fiat 500L model. The car company gave prizes to winners.
Ronen Rental Boutique Event Furnishings provided the furniture at the VH1 lounge at Scope Miami Beach fair.
The artist Mr. Brainwash finished an art installation at the launch party of new restaurant Cibo Wine Bar South Beach. He spray-painted over a collage of luggage tags marked with Miami's "MIA" airport code.
Performers from Circ X entertained guests at the Soho Beach House and White Cube Gallery Beachside Party December 2.
Picture frames of various sizes and materials, along with product displays, made for an attractive press wall at the fifth annual Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series celebration, which took place at Soho Beach House on December 4. The Artisan Series is a competition for emerging visual artists and tied to Scope Miami Beach art fair.
Artfully designed bottles of Bombay Sapphire were displayed at the event. Samsung tablets provided information about the artists whose work appeared throughout Soho Beach House—as well as their favorite gin cocktail. The cocktail pairings were inspired by each of the 12 regional finalist’s cities.
Actress Rosario Dawson presented her manager, Evan Hainey, with an on-brand birthday cake that used mini bottles of Bombay Sapphire as candle holders. The cake's inscription read, “Evan—You’re the BOMBay!”
Spike TV introduced its new furniture design competition show Framework at an event December 5 at W South Beach. The event featured eclectic furniture, including some pieces used from the show's set.
Visitors to the 10th anniversary of Design Miami entered through an eye-catching pavilion from Minneapolis-based designer Jonathan Muecke. The entrance pavilion has become a signature of the event, and this year's design featured curved walls in bright monochromatic hues—red and green within and blue and yellow on the outside. The simplicity of the structure was designed as a visual respite from the stimulating environment of the fair inside.
Guests could lounge on an unusual collection of pool floaties from Pool Party, a limited-edition collection of pool toys curated by Grey Area. The colorful collection was on display at an event December 5 at Soho Beach House.
Chrome Hearts, a Los Angeles-based accessories, leather, and furniture company, opened a Miami store with an event December 3. It included a performance by Zoe Kravitz of Lolawolf and a DJ set by Atlanta DeCadenet-Taylor. Owners Laurie Lynn Stark and Richard Stark designed the interiors, including the counter and bar stools at its David’s Café.
IWC Schaffhausen hosted the ''Timeless Portofino'' gala December 3 at the W South Beach hotel. The dinner was held in the ballroom, where guests could view a photo exhibition from photographer Peter Lindbergh.
