Kate Taylor visited the pre-fair event at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to cover the exhibition of Lalanne work there:

The art program at Fairchild, which has included exhibitions of Roy Lichtenstein, Franz West, Mark di Suvero, and Yayoi Kusama, is the project of a trustee, Lin Lougheed, who, with his partner, Aaron Fleischman, divides his time between New York, Washington, and Miami. Mr. Lougheed and Mr. Fleischman are major collectors, and, when he got involved with Fairchild, Mr. Lougheed rightly recognized that contemporary art could bring the garden, whose mission is to help preserve plant species around the world, greater exposure.

“I thought, how can we make the garden more visible, make it a household name, and that’s when I started to call on my contacts in the art world,” Mr. Lougheed said.

Now, he said, people who come for the annual lunch hosted by Sotheby’s, or other events, like a party that Goldman Sachs threw for its clients against the backdrop of the Lichtenstein exhibition, ask about the garden’s other programs and how they can help.

Art Basel Miami, Day One: The Calm Before the Storm (Arts Beat/New York Times)