<p>Artworld icons and founders of The Rubell Museum reflect on a lifelong passion that is at the very heart of Miami’s cultural center</p>

Riki Altman-Yee

Spotlight on Mera and Don Rubell

<p>Though Mera and Don Rubell have col­lected art for more than half a century, they seem as eager to share their finds as they are to amass them. Arguably the opening of Rubell Family Collection in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood in 1993 spawned a new chapter for art collectors around the globe. Suddenly, owning the works and keeping them behind closed doors became not nearly as enjoyable as inviting the world in for a peek too. </p><p>And while the Rubells certainly did not mind traversing the globe to unearth the riches, Mera says she became possessed with the notion that Miami needed its own treasure chest. ‘I fought like the devil to bring Basel to Miami,’ Mera says. ‘I was the lunatic who chased them down. They were flirting with another venue in the United States. But I said, “You gotta come to Miami.” In some crazy way, Miami resembles Art Basel in Switzerland because it’s kind of a neutral zone for north and south.’ </p>

<p>And when the powers that be argued the Miami Beach Convention Center did not have enough space to host a substantial enough fair, she says her son Jason suggested they could use containers on the beach as makeshift galleries.</p><p>‘We took the mayor there, who took a whole delegation to Art Basel. Miami Beach finally realized this was a big deal,’ she recalls. Soon, the city’s major collectors all rallied around to help make it happen and, once it did, they opened their homes to share their collections.</p><p>As the fair grew, so did Rubell Collection. So much so that it moved to a larger space in 2019. Now in nearby Allapattah, their Rubell Museum gets its fair share of exhibitions from the couple’s 7,200-plus works by more than 1,000 artists, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6731/Jean-Michel-Basquiat" target="_blank">Jean-Michel Basquiat</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8196/Keith-Haring" target="_blank">Keith Haring</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6944/Jeff-Koons" target="_blank">Jeff Koons</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8291/Cindy-Sherman" target="_blank">Cindy Sherman</a>. Many of those have traveled around the nation and internationally for exhibition in museums.</p>

<p>The Rubells take pleasure in discovering artists early in their careers and names that might have previously gone unnoticed. They have also incorporated Leku, a Basque restaurant, and recently developed a program of residencies generously sponsored by the Knight Foundation. Works from one of the recent recipients,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/stories/alexandre-diop-kehinde-wiley" target="_blank">Alexandre Diop</a>, will be on display at Rubell Collection during Art Basel Miami Beach.</p>

<p>And for the past 14 years, the Rubells had been working toward opening another Rubell Museum until, finally, the stars aligned. Neighbors wanted to repurpose the deteriorating building across the street from a business the Rubells own in Washington, D.C.’s Southwest neighborhood, so they entered a competition to determine its fate and won. ‘The community chose us because we said we’ll bring another flagship,’ Mera explains. ‘Sometimes the mountain just presents itself.’ On October 29, Rubell Museum DC opened its doors, and welcomed visitors inside what was promised to be a truly one-of-a-kind neighborhood museum, led by an equally well-rounded director, Caitlin Berry. ‘She has the experience, temperament and kind of focus we’re looking for,’ Mera says. ‘She’s done everything in art.’</p>

<p>
	Certainly, this year the Rubells will find more gems at Art Basel Miami Beach to fill the space there and in Miami – just don’t use the S-word with Mera. ‘Never use the word “shopping”,’ she says. ‘We don’t shop. We explore. You stay really engaged, reading, looking, thinking, traveling. We’re obsessed with finding talent.’
</p>
<p>
	Fortunately, she says, Art Basel always does an excellent job vetting the galleries and ensuring they only bring their best works to Miami Beach. Those standards are what has kept the fair thriving. ‘What Art Basel did was expose Miami to a new real cross-fertilization of social values, traditions. For a lot of European galleries, it was the first time they had been seen by Americans. Miami was exposed to Europe, the collecting obsession and devotion, like the professionalism of collecting. I think it changed Miami. And it changed Basel, too, because all these collectors were used to being very discreet. Gradually, when you went to Basel, Switzerland, they started opening their homes. It really impacted everybody.’
</p>
<p>
	This article was originally commissioned for the 
	<em>Art Basel Miami Beach </em>magazine 2022.
</p>
<p>
	Captions for full-bleed images: 1. Detail of Jean-Michel Basquiat, 
	<em>Bird On Money</em>, 1981. Courtesy of the Rubell Museum DC. A dark filter was applied over this image for readability. 2. Detail of Mickalene Thomas,&nbsp;<em>Baby I Am Ready Now</em>, 2007. Courtesy of the Rubell Museum DC.</p>

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Artworld icons and founders of The Rubell Museum reflect on a lifelong passion that is at the very heart of Miami’s cultural center

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