Wynwood

Ten years ago, Brook Dorsch bought an old lamp factory and an adjoining crack house in Wynwood, a dilapidated working class neighborhood near Miami’s garment factories.

A computer engineer with no formal art training, Dorsch turned the lamp warehouse into a contemporary art gallery, Dorsch Gallery, one of only three that existed in the area at the time. Today more than 80 art galleries, studios, design shops and large-scale collections have turned rows of non-descript warehouses into the Wynwood Arts District.

Dorsch, who has found two dead bodies in Wynwood since he moved there, has been at the center of the district’s evolution.

The transformation has come in bursts, buoyed by the Art Basel Miami Beach satellite fairs and the opening of private collections of museum-quality.

Yet unlike other art districts, Wynwood still retains a gritty urban mystique that continues to attract experimental artists and adventurous art aficionados for art walks on every second Saturday of the month.

Like it or not (and we do), this is Miami’s art scene. It’s a chance to see abundant art in small, independent galleries that provide loads of attitude if not consistent foot traffic.

“In Wynwood you do have to pry the oyster open to find the pearl,”  Dorsch says. “It doesn’t look like much on the surface, but if you explore just a little bit you’ll be very surprised.”

Partly due to that creative environment and cheaper rents, the area is becoming a hub for innovative business minds as well.

Suzan McDowell, president and CEO of Circle of One Marketing (winner of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County 2010 corporation of the year award) says the district has built a brand that distinguishes the businesses that are located there.

“When you tell people you’re in Wynwood you brand yourself because you have to be a risk-taker,” McDowell says. “Wynwood is edgy. It pushes the envelope creatively.”

Formerly a senior account executive with the radio station Hot 105 FM, McDowell started her creative design and advertising agency in 2003 as a way to escape corporate rigidity.

When looking for office space that resembled her goals (“I wanted to be my own individual”), McDowell settled on a black and pink striped two-story building whose other tenants included an architect and a real estate developer. She credits Wynwood’s innovative osmosis with helping her grow her business and develop a team that is both efficient and progressive.

Both Dorsch and McDowell see promise in Wynwood’s future. What’s needed in 2010 to keep the district growing? More restaurants so visitors can stay longer and businesses have somewhere to eat.