Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Buzz builds in downtown Miami as region's international hot spot. Could it be the Arsht Center? Museum Park? New restaurants? Affordable condos? Lebron James and the Heat? Luxury hotels?

Haute Living Miami is regarded as one of the city’s most respected sources for news and views on the luxury lifestyle. Therefore it’s fitting that the magazine chose to highlight the Adrienne Arsht Center’s 5th Anniversary Season Gala in the aptly titled "Haute Blog" this week. The black-tie affair, which will take place one month from today on October 28 (read: there’s still time to get tickets!), is considered a highlight of Miami's social season, and more than 500 of the city's most influential arts patrons, philanthropists, and business and civic leaders are expected to attend.

As the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts approaches its fifth anniversary, our city is reminded of how far the Center has come in only five years, and the impact it has made on our community in such a short time. Not only is the Center a cultural hub and the crown jewel of Miami’s arts scene, but it has also become an economic engine that has driven more than $1 billion in public and private investments in its neighborhood. It’s also made critical investments in its community, including free arts education programs for local children at a time when budgets are being cut and resources becoming more and more scarce.

Today's kudos go to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. In less than five years since opening, the institution has proven itself not only a venue for world-class performances, but also as a community-based resource for Miami artists, citizens, and especially children. One notable example was Rock Odyssey, a rock-opera version of Homer's Odyssey which the Adrienne Arsht Center provided free of charge to every 5th grader in Miami-Dade - about 25,000 children. The latest of the Arsht Center's community outreach programs is AileyCamp, profiled in the Miami Herald as a critical resource changing the lives of at-risk middle schoolers.

In another key step toward downtown's urban revival, the Miami Art Museum is eligible to receive $100 million in county bond proceeds, removing the biggest hurdle to start construction on the facility's long-sought new home in Miami.

Back in early 2007, when Sen. Barack Obama was beginning his long-shot campaign for president, he turned to his friends. One name came to mind in Florida.

“Call Ricky Arriola,” Obama told the state’s campaign finance chief, Kirk Wagar. “He’s the person who knows me best in Florida.”

PERFORMING ARTS