On Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, Miami welcomed people from around the world in honor of a week long creative celebration known as Art Basel.

Art Basel is an annual event held at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Initially started in Miami in 2002, Art Basel has evolved immensely. The event does not solely take place at the convention center but now, theWyre are a series of art exhibitions placed around the city. The Miami Design District, the Wynwood District, and Miami Beach all feature different gallery openings and promise a week of artistically inclined entertainment.

The art fair is an amazing platform for emerging artists as well as accomplished artists. Prospective buyers and collectors travel in from the around the world to observe the exhibits and make offers. Not only do prestigious art connoisseurs fly in but Art Basel also attracts a lot of celebrity activity. Famous names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Baz Luhrmann, Adrien Grenier, and Kate Hudson were some of the few who attended ‘Basel’ this year.

Art Basel is specially interesting for the students because they are able to see another side of Miami that they are not used to experiencing. Miami becomes less of a vacation destination with the sole attraction of beaches and sun. The city is able to  showcase the true talent and culture that it has to offer.

“Art Basel is on of my favorite weeks of the year. This year, my favorite part of Art Basel was definitely in the Wynwood district. The artists featured in Wynwood were more centered on street art and were more contemporary which I loved. Wynwood also had live artists painting on the walls which was really interesting to watch,” said junior Natacia Zunjic.

Basel is not limited to only art exhibitions but several parties along the week feature special musical guests. Musicians such as Miley Cyrus, FKA Twigs, and Drake made appearances during the week and prompted even larger crowds to come out to the beach to celebrate a week of art. However, this constant migration of all of these people created chaos on the streets of Miami. The constant traffic to the beach coupled with an uproar of #BlackLivesMatter protests slowed Miami down.

The art event, however, proved to be too much for some local Miamians. They argued that Basel was just for show and did not provide much to the city but just attracted more superficiality.

“Art Basel Miami Beach is very subjective and personally I didn’t like it that much because I’m not really interested in that type of art. But I know that a lot of my friends really enjoyed it. I just wish there was a bigger emphasis on film,” said junior Beatriz Martins.

Art Basel will continue to come to Miami in years to come. Growing bigger and bigger every year, it has the potential to become the biggest culture festival in the United States.