Art Basel Miami is in Miami because of collectors like Rosa de la Cruz. Along with a dozen other obsessive collectors, de la Cruz made Miami more than outpost of the art world. They turned it into a Mecca for the far-flung faithful of Contemporary art.
ArtInfo has an interview with her where she talks about her planned space that will be about art first and foremost:
“there are too many parties. Lately art has become a purely social scene. I’ve met people at parties who are buying art, and they don’t know what they are buying. [ . . . ]
I think there are too many shows. We’ve been running a marathon for the past few years. With everything that’s happening in the world right now, we need to slow down and spend more time looking at works. So there will be the collection, and that’s it. And a little library. I want people to say, “I have nothing to do today. You know what? I’m dying to look at a painting.”
