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The March 2, 2010 print version of the New York Times features an article by Dr. Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems‘ Memory Center, about embracing the meaning, wisdom, and rich potential that lies in old age - and which is frequently overlooked by the young.

All of us lapse into such mistaken impressions of old age from time to time. It stems in part from an age-centered perspective, in which we view our own age as the most normal of times, the way all life should be. At 18 the 50-year-olds may seem ancient, but at 50 we are apt to say the same about the 80-year-olds….

…In the end, there is a cost to our myopic view of aging. We imagine the pains of late-life ailments but not the joys of new pursuits; we recoil at the losses and loneliness and fail to embrace the wisdom and meaning that only age can bring.

Dr. Agronin’s views reflect a philosophy which permeates the entire Miami Jewish Health Systems organization from its nursing home to chronic pain center, from its biofeedback facility to its memory center:  the goal in treating patients is to help them live full, rich, meaningful lives, whether they’re four years old or a hundred and four.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Much has been reported on Miami Art Museum’s new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in Museum Park. While the debut of that landmark structure is still a few years away, MAM’s curatorial staff is busy preparing for its new digs. In fact, the design and construction of the building is only one part of the equation. Much of the prep work in the run up to the new building will center around programming and gallery composition — ensuring the museum is ready to occupy its new home when the time comes. MAM’s newest exhibit, Between Here and There: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection, is one of the first steps in that process.

Think of this show as a massive laboratory in which MAM is experimenting with how different works interact with each other and how the public will experience the collection once the new building opens. Museum-goers will find a collection of works that reflects Miami’s youth as a city and its place as an international crossroads. Tom Austin reviews Between Here and There: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection in Sunday’s Miami Herald.

New show highlights works from MAM’s permanent collection

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (742-4), 1991

At van der Marck’s request, Pozzi did four color field paintings in assorted primary colors, Dutch and clean in effect and now a centerpiece of the exhibition’s Art-Making section, which focuses on the creative process.

The show’s more than 80 pieces are broken down into four other rather fluid gestalts: The Unconscious, spanning Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” and the march of Surrealism; Reason, embracing the Bauhaus and the revolution of Minimalism; Experience, art that moves beyond the static to inter-action; Everyday Life, art that wallows in the sheer ordinariness of life.

Between Here and There consumes MAM’s upstairs galleries. Immediately to the right, off the stairs, is the Anchor Gallery, intended to feature large-scale installations that will change on occasion. For round one, MAM’s Collector’s Council purchased the prototype for Tomas Saraceno’s Galaxies Forming Along Filaments, Like Droplets Along the Strands of a Spider’s Web.

Saraceno, Argentina’s representative at 2009’s Venice Biennale, debuted the piece there. The installation consists of a series of ropes leading to an embryo-shaped pod of ropes suspended in the middle of the room. It explores life, cellular theory and all that jazz — and makes a fantastic high-end playground for kids.

The next two gallery rooms contain The Unconscious portion of the show. Jane and Gerald Katcher gave Francesco Clemente’s dreamy painting Numbers, while Sanford Rubenstein donated several totemic Edouard Duval Carrié sculptures, The Vaudou Parthenum series. The section’s standouts include Philippe Halsman’s Dali Atomicus (donated by Charles Cowles) and Anna Gaskell’s unsettling photograph Untitled No. 23 (Override), a gift of MAM supporters Dennis and Debra Scholl. In the image, candy striper/girl scouts/general sweet young things drag their girlfriend into the woods to confront, no doubt, some unwholesome destiny.

The Art-Making section contains a seminal Marcel Duchamp piece. In memory of Jon Ashton, Lang Baumgarten, Mimi Floback and Sally Ashton Story put up the necessary funds for Duchamp’s suitcase-size box with replicas of his work, including the signature upturned urinal. In the end, artists and worker drones, we’re all just traveling salesmen. Another beauty in this section is Gerhard Richter’s Abstract Picture [742-4], his version of Jackson Pollack’s “drip paintings,” donated by Mimi and Bud Floback in honor of former MAM director Suzanne Delehanty.

In a side room is the Focus Gallery, intended for small rotating exhibitions: the first is an exploration of modernism’s pioneers, from Joseph Albers to Wifredo Lam.

Everyday Life features A Logo for America, five Alfredo Jaar photographs of the artist’s Jenny-Holzeresque LED manifestos on Times Square. The photos were donated by Luis Calzadilla. Experience entails a wonderful Ann Hamilton installation, the capacity of absorption, 1988/96, another gift of Mimi Floback, this one incorporating copper pipes, glasses, magnets, an old-fashioned microphone and pure genius. Tiny magnets make water spin around wall-mounted glasses, with viewers able to calm the motion by speaking loudly into the microphone. If only shutting down agitation in ordinary life were that easy.

At times, Between Here and There is a hit-and-miss proposition, drawing from a rather thin permanent collection, but it’s a start, and the museum hopes that the planned completion of Herzog & de Meuron’s Museum Park in 2013 will open up the hearts — and wallets — of local collectors.

The donated pieces destined for future shows cover a lot of terrain. Delehanty, in conjunction with Jose W. Perez, gave Ed Ruscha’s 1968 book Nine Swimming Pools and a Broken Glass in honor of Rebecca Cohen, formerly with MAM’s development office. The late interior designer and social legend Ton Luyk donated an inflatable sculpture by Robert Chambers. And art consultant Manuel Gonzalez has given a Lyle Ashton Harris portrait in honor of art critics Helen Kohen and Paula Harper.

Several prominent local collectors aren’t represented in this show. Much of the great contemporary art in Miami is in “private” museums, rather than public museums. But in a city given to spending public money on gargantuan performing arts centers, baseball stadiums and maybe even grotesque stadium roofs for the already well-gilded, Museum Park may be a reasonable enough proposition — and smart in the bargain.

Public school systems across the country are slashing arts education budgets. At the same time, performing arts centers are reducing their community outreach programming.

Not so here in Miami. A story published in Sunday’s Miami Herald proves that here, there’s a bright spot for our County’s children.

For most 11-year olds, the name “Homer” evokes thoughts of The Simpsons. But that’s about to change for 25,000 Miami fifth graders. The Adrienne Arsht Center unveiled a pilot program that will bring every 5th grader in the County (25,000 kids in all) to visit the Center this spring for a free performance of Rock Odyssey, an original rock opera set to Homer’s Odyssey. All expenses will be covered by the Arsht Center, including the cost of developing and implementing a pre- and post-show curriculum. Funding is coming from tourist tax dollars, making this is a first-of-its kind program in that it will be provided free of charge and publicly funded.

The experience of Rock Odyssey in one of the nation’s premier performing arts center comes at a critical juncture in these 5th-graders’ educations: immediately prior to entering middle school, when they’ll have their first opportunities to self-direct into arts-related classes and extracurricular activities. For many of these children, Rock Odyssey will be their first window into the performing arts.

In what’s been an especially harsh environment for both arts organizations and public school systems, the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Rock Odyssey program is helping fill the gap in arts education and expose the County’s children to the power of fine performing arts, world-class storytelling, engaging music, and top-notch stagecraft. For free.

By the way… there’s a free performance open to the public (not just children) on May 8th. We’ll see you there.

Quiz someone about the score of a past Super Bowl and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Ask them to rattle off their favorite Super Bowl ads and you’ll open the door to an entire conversation. The images are everlasting (think Mean Joe Greene downing a Coke, Budweiser’s frogs, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird exchanging shots for a Big Mac); the phrases have entered our vernacular (“I love you, man” and “I’m going to Disney World”).

Why do you think 30-second Super Bowl ad spots fetched $800,000 in 1990 and $3 million this year? Hint: it has little to do with inflation.

The dramatic increase reflects the astronomical growth in value attached to the advertisements themselves. As TV news segued to a 24/7 format, the internet picked up steam and social media platforms took flight, the ‘day after’ value of these ads has skyrocketed. Today, many ads are viewed by more people following the Super Bowl than during the game itself.

The credibility generated by round-the-clock media coverage of these ads, coupled with their viral spread via content sharing platforms such as Youtube, Twitter and Facebook, means Super Bowl advertisers are buying much more than a 30-second window of the public’s attention. They’re buying an opportunity to build brand value and mindshare for their company or product over the long term. Today, the value in communicating with your target audience goes far beyond the content of your message; it’s also the extent of the exposure that boosts the bottom line.

That’s why at Schwartz Media Strategies, we maximize the value of our clients’ news by spreading the word through strategic media relations and social media communications.

We’ve selected five Super Bowl ads that we think have the best potential to enjoy lasting buzz over the coming weeks and months. Click below, watch the videos, and see if you agree!