Enjoy some culture with "Sleepless Night" in Miami Beach

From 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2009, until 7:00 a.m. the next morning, Miami Beach will stay up all night with more than 150 free arts and entertainment events presented at 80 different locations throughout the city. It is called Sleepless Night. You can find all the activities at this link.

Over 100,000 people of all ages will enjoy free museum admissions, indoor and outdoor art installations and performances, architectural tours, dance (and dancing,) theater, music, slam poetry, film, video, fashion, acrobatics, comedy and more, including several unique collaborations and South Florida and world premieres. The City of Miami Beach collaborates with every cultural institution in the city, and with numerous other organizations, businesses and individuals to ensure that Audi Sleepless Night includes all aspects and points of view of what we collectively call “the arts.” Free shuttle buses with onboard arts programming connect the four zones of activity and remote parking for the full 13-hour night.

County Budget Cuts

The Urban Environment League is against the massive budget cuts to the Parks department. In an article today in the Miami Herald it was reported that cultural groups are gearing up to protect their interests from budget cuts Mayor Alvarez has proposed. Hundreds of people showed up at a Science Museum meeting to discuss the proposed budget and lend support to cultural entities and programs. The Herald says cuts would:

• Squeeze $14.8 million of funding down to a mere $4.4 million.

• What were 500 grant recipients would be whittled down to about 100.