Miami New Times Artopia

2014 Artopia in the Gables. Last time I went to Artopia was when it was in Wynwood. The one in Wynwood was much more visually stimulating, although the event itself was kind of a bust, which is why it took a few years for me to come back. So this year in the Gables, I see not much has changed but the venue.
The majority of the vendor booths were booring, there definately was not enough food vendors or variety (2 of the 3 vendors served cold mini tacos, the other, one spoon of ceviche) and the bars were placed in the most horrible location possible causing congesting lines to form right in the pathway of everyone trying to enter. They definately need to plan that better the next time and bring at least 2 to 3 more food vendors.
The art displayed was interesting, and the photo booth was cool. They had Circ X performers who have creative costumes, but I would have liked to see more of them.
So the event has definately not improved enough for me to go back anytime soon. I’ll give it another few years…

This was my first year attending this event and I don’t foresee myself going again. The venue, the Coral Gables Museum is beautiful of course and contains some interesting exhibits. However, this event being «Art“opia, I expected much more in addition to the museum’s regular exhibits.
We had VIP tickets, which was a good thing. Sort of. We arrived at 6: PM and were able to walk around without the crowds. However, some of the vendors were not fully set up at that time. Fortunately we were able to grabbed a drink from the only bar for Rums of Puerto Rico, because after 7PM, the line was crazy long.
I was not thrilled by the way that some of the food vendors distributed the food samples. While some, like Pincho Factory, had individual plated servings, others had trays for people to grab their own. My issue was that there were no serving utensils. So people would be touching the food with their hands as they grabbed their portion. We avoided those. The VIP lounge was a joke.
We did enjoy the painting DIY hosted by Bottle & Bottega. And the folks running it were very friendly as well.
Like I said, we arrived at 6: and by 7:30 we were ready to go. And that was including the ½ hour or so that we were painting. Not thrilled at all with this event. Definitely not worth the price.

This review is for 2014 — the 6^th Annual Artopia.
I’ve been to previous years and had an ok time. This year I opted for VIP Tickets, which made all the difference. Allowing us to get in 1 hour earlier meant the venue was empty and we were able to sample all the food ahead of time. The venue this year was the Coral Gables Museum which is gorgeous on it’s own right. However, the amount of art was somewhat lacking from previous years and we spent a lot of time viewing the actually museum pieces.
5 stars — the painting station. We were one of the first groups in and after 15 minutes had our very own jellyfish paintings to take home. Lots of fun.
4 stars — the venue. Although not quite right, it still was fabulous and there was a good amount of space to move.
4 stars — the food. All of the vendors were great and didn’t run out of food too early. It’s an art event so we weren’t expecting to be stuffed, it was just right.
4 stars — parking. Don’t get me wrong, the museum parking lot was one of the scariest parking lots I’ve ever been in — way too narrow and tight. However, it was close and cheap.
3 stars — the drinks. Only one stand for the rums of Puerto Rico which are a huge sponsor! Lots of Becks stands however.
I’m not jumping to go to next year’s Artopia, but I’m glad we went again this year.

The 2013 Artopia was great! Top scale restaurants, entertainment, unlimited drinks, performers, fashion and art.

Thank Goodness I got my tix through an online deal because I would have been highly ticked if I had paid full price for this event. My review is for the Miami New Times Artopia that was held on 2÷28÷2013.
Parking was $ 10 which was to be expected given that the event was in Coral Gables.
I brought along 3 friends and upon entry I noticed that this event was very small in scale compared to what looked like was being advertised online. There were few booths with food samples and even fewer stations with alcohol or other beverages. Between the food booths they had wack vendors like radio stations and tax prep companies on file to take your personal information.
As we walked around we noticed long lines at most of the food stations for tiny bite-​sized samples. Cool distractions the street performers and drag queens made the wait tolerable.
I didn’t see much art on display outside of the museum. There was a stage with some musicians and a fashion show but really didn’t keep my attention.
After less than an hour, we went in to the museum which held some really nice art, but nothing specially displayed for Artopia. About the coolest thing of the night was the band performing inside the museum.

much improved from last year. nice art nice performances delicious lil snacks, 2 free drinks – becks beer. Villa 221 was a very pretty venue.

This review is for Artopia 2012 at the Villa 221. Parking was not easy but not the worst. The location had parking on a lot attached and there was street parking. I choose street parking. I purchased my GA ticket for $ 12 which included a complimentary drink from a new liquor company. There was also complimentary popcorn. The event was very nice and very well organized. There was also a traveling dance troop called rainbow circus that was pretty interesting. The art was interesting. The crowd was pretty cool. The entire vibe was nice and quite enjoyable. The only negative was the featured band. The headliner/​featured band was terrible and irritating.

New times was cool. This is not cool.

AGREED KARINA G! I am a 3^rd year Artopia vet. This one was very forgettable The fist year was very unique, special and memorable. The Alcohol was flowing like a flooded Mississippi River. The music was pulsating and well lets just say some lamps were actual people. It was an outrageous event. With all 4 key elements liquor, art, music, food. After the first Artopia I said I will attend all of them. Here comes year 2, at the Freedom tower. Another victory for New Times great venue huge assortment of food and drinks. Circ X wasn’t as noticeable but still great event. They had lots of vendors and lots of art. Great performances Overall good times (BOrat VOice) now Artopia 3. I was excited, and boy did you suck!!! First the ticket people were rude and annoying I wanted to karate chop a few of them texting and crap when there is a huge line. The music sounded good in the beginning, but as it progressed the worse it got the acoustics were crappy. ALSO NO DAMN FOOD. The first 2 Artopia’s I would stuff my face. This one was more like a scavenger hunt to try some food. Also all the art was Britto. Really? this guy is more played out than a Honda Civic come on isn’t New TImes a hip and trandy paper? Where are all the talented underground artist? To top it of you have a freaking beer from Guatemala? WTF is that? You had Magic Hat last year now you have a beer that looks like Pollo Tropical owns it. To drink you had 3 choices some crappy rum, crappy beer, and crappy wine. In previous years you can pick and choose from a variety. Artopia sucked major you know what. New Times was triyn to bank in the bucks on previous success. BREW AT ZOO was horrible and Artopia Stunk. NEw TImes pick up your game up.

Let me start off by saying that if I could give it 0 stars I would!
I do not know if it is because last year’s Artopia was that good last year or not, but I was BEYOND disappointed with this year’s event
I thought Artopia was about showcasing local artists? Where was the art?
Everyting was wrong from the very first moment. Lucky for me I had friends that were already in the front by the time I got there because if not I would have had to make that crazy line. How unorganized was that front section
Now onto food and drinks, since when is there only 1 sponsor for food & drinks? Are times that tough?! To top it off, the food was not even good. My friend bit into a raw burger… RAW burger people!
If you are picking a location that has 4 levels, why not use all of them?! Instead, you have people look & feel like sardines on the first 2 rows.
Last but definitely not least, since when is this event about promoting people’s businesses. Did you have to go to that extreme since you didnt hae enough vendors? I do not care for a chiropractor, I already have one, so why was there the need for that!
The only saving grace was the location. The Moore building is just an amazing building with an architecture to die for. The sound garden is so beautiful too

Was I the only one expecting more?
More art? More organization? More rum in my coke? (but why is the rum gone?)
The line to get inside was one big mess. A mob of people all trying to get to the front at the same time. I was ready to just lower my shoulder and create a lane for my friends.
The bars were a crowded mess, upstairs was a crowded mess. The event in general was a hot mess. Hopefully it improves next year.

Let me say that bulk of the stars are for the ambiance of Moore Building and the «entry garden», as well as on the institutional memory as it were of New Times since they tend to publish cool and informative articles as well as substantial club listings. Institutional memory for the event itself comes around because I have been to previous incarnations of Artopia I’ve attended. As far as this one, well, like we say in Hialeah «Que vuelta New Times?»
Let me get the boo-​boos out of the way; it’s late and I want to say g’nite on a positive note. $ 7 for Valet? While they were timely, they changed the radio station I had on. Imagine leaving my car to Sirius 38 and getting back in to a sappy ballad. The line to get in. just a touch crowded and jammed up. With so many restaurants in Miami, why was there only one food sponsor? (To their credit, the Chicken Yakitori was OK.) Speaking of promotions, I know the reason events like these are priced «affordably» is becuase of sponsorship and adding our names to mailing list (thank goodness for the Spam filter), the cigarette girls were more than a little pushy. They were cute, but I had to repeat to the same one I don’t smoke…
By the way, what is up with only using TWO FLOORS of the Moore Building. It was a little crowded, just a little.
I did like the housey /​dancey music on the patio (better than the hipster rock on the inside; just my taste.) The massage chairs from one of the accident clinics was actually pretty good, and am glad they didn’t have a sign in sheet. Also, I was fortunate enough to get to the bar and sample a rum with cranberry that wasn’t watered down.
Looking forward to an improved Artopia next year New Times, I know you can do it!

After circling for 40 minutes in standstill traffic looking for parking, I waited in 2 different lines. I had already purchased my tickets in advance so skipped the ticketline. Still had to wait to exhange my printout for a standard ticket and then wait in line again for entry. The place was so crowded that I couldnt even see which booths were there. The bar was 5 people deep and I was glad I wasn’t drinking tonight. People waited for food as if they’d never seen it before
What did the ticket cost cover? 1 falafel ball on a plate that we had to wait for behind throngs of people?
A bar that clearly was not prepared for a crowd?
Shameless promos for upcoming events?
The Moore building is large, and the entire building should have been utilized., 1000’s of people on only 2 floors just made for mass chaos.
This was my first and last time attending an event like this.