Not a stone's throw from the northern borders of the Miami Design District, in the neighborhood of Morningside, live Dan and Kathryn Mikesell with their two children, Galt and Skye. They seem like an ordinary, well-to-do local family, except this family has helped build the backbone of Miami's contemporary art community. Holding membership at every major non-profit institution in the city (Locust Projects, Cannonball, MOCA North Miami and the forthcoming Pérez Art Museum Miami), and face time with major commercial galleries not only in Miami but worldwide, the Mikesells are certainly one of Miami's own Medicis.
The Fountainhead Residency, located just across from the family home in Morningside, and the Fountainhead Studios in Little Haiti serve as incubators to local and visiting artists seeking to experience Miami as a site that harbors and inspires creative exploration. Kathryn, according to Dan, was the foundress and driving force behind the Residency; she oversees all of the logistical and practical operation of the house where anywhere from five to seven or eight artists at a time sleep, eat, exchange work, trade peer critiques and engage in hardcore studio time. In the past, the Residency has hosted luminous artists including RETNA and Shepard Fairey (both of whom have massive presence in Miami thanks to their projects in Wynwood, Midtown and the Design District), as well as Barry McGee, Miru Kim, Shelter Serra and others. More importantly, the Mikesells have elevated the presence and efforts of local artists, having purchased and promoted work from Agustina Woodgate, TYPOE, Cristina Lei Rodriguez and Aramis Gutierrez.
The Residency continues to grow in prominence throughout the community and the larger sphere of global contemporary art as it accepts artists from South Africa, Israel, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Submissions are carefully selected and accepted according to available openings throughout the year. For more information on The Fountainhead Residency and the creative efforts of The Mikesells, visit their website.
