“For the People: 700 The Arts”

African American Works on Paper from the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Permanent Art Collection

Hampton Art Lovers is delighted to showcase African-American art from the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Permanent Art Collection featuring the works of Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Gene Tinnie, Al Loving, Jacob Lawrence, William T. Williams, and others.

The Dewey Decimal Classification System is used by libraries to organize items in their collections by subject. The main subjects are given a three-digit number. The Arts are located in the 700–799 section. According to the American Library Association, “The arts play a vital role in our ability to communicate a broad spectrum of ideas to all people. Developing an understanding and appreciation of visual and performing arts promotes artistic literacy. Libraries should offer opportunities for the community to experience art.” 

For over 40years, the Art Services Division of the Miami-Dade Public Library System has acquired, developed, and maintained works for the Library’s Permanent Art Collection of over 7,000 works of art. Installed in 49 of the Library’s 50 locations, it has earned national respect as an important reference collection that chronicles social, cultural, and artistic change in Miami. Our local library has been at the forefront of Arts Advocacy in South Florida, a community that now hosts the largest art fairs in the Western Hemisphere - Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week.

Visual arts transform understanding and appreciation of the world in all its cultural diversity. We know that all too well in Miami-Dade. The Arts are powerful components of library collections and services. The Miami-Dade Public Library System is a national monument in its development as an arts institution. “For The People: 700 The Arts” attempts to tell that story with an emphasis on its collection of African American art, which is one of the finest collections in South Florida, bar none.  In 1973, officials in Miami-Dade County estimated there were few arts and cultural organizations and art exhibition venues, and fewer that emphasized and took seriously the work of local, African-American, and Latino/Latin American artists. The Library’s Artmobile, Permanent Art Collection, and exhibitions program were established in the 1970s to address this need. As our community and its artistic production have become larger and more diverse, the need to document and understand them has also grown. The Miami-Dade Public Library System has also been instrumental in documenting Miami’s rich art scene. In 2000, art critic, historian, and writer Helen L. Kohen and the Library’s then-Art Services Manager, Barbara N. Young, created The Vasari Project, a living archivededicated to documenting, collecting, and preserving MiamiDade County's art history from 1945 to the present.Literacy itself has become more complex in an increasingly networked and media-driven society. More than ever, our community needs civic spaces where people of all ages and walks of life can connect with others, exchange ideas, acquire visual literacy skills, and engage with arts and culture in a meaningful way.