Miami Street Artists Get Dirty Before the Crowds and the Cocktails Arrive

Dec. 3, 2012— -- Art Basel Miami is an annual contemporary art fair extravaganza held each December since 2002. Much has been said about how "Basel" has contributed to effectively change the cultural fabric of Miami, starting with its art scene. Areas of the city such as Wynwood and the Design District are a haven for galleries big and small, and especially for street art.

So, before the posers and the gliteratti fly in from all over the world, I hit up Wynwood -- an area formerly full of warehouses and now boutiques, restaurants and galleries -- to see for myself how street artists work on their murals a week leading up to Art Basel.

The Obey Giant creator himself, Shepard Fairey, 42, was painting over a wall at Wynwood Kitchen and Bar to replace the one he had put up three years ago. Although the same color scheme, the new mural is dedicated to real estate and Wynwood visionary Tony Goldman who passed away earlier this year. The wall combines Fairey and Goldman's interests. Famous musicians, artists, and figures like Miles Davis, Salvador Dali, Martin Luther King Jr., and David Bowie are some of the stencils on the new mural.

SEE ALSO: Video of Shepard Fairey at work on the mural

"Tony and a few other ambassadors from the community, have helped to create walls for people and show that this is a legitimate art form," he said, "and for me, to have a showcase and to help inspire is something I wouldn't miss in the world."

Where there's a talented artist, there's a giant corporation trying to sponsor them. Heineken hired six street artists (CP1, Chor Boogie, Prime and Estria, Don Rimx, and Trek 6) to paint five murals in Wynwood as part of Art Basel's outdoor galleries for their Open Your World campaign. (Click link for map of Wynwood's mural locations).

Local street artist Richard Ralph, known by his pseudonym The 305 Kid, admits there is a small rivalry between street artists and gallery artists. "I sell on the street instead of in the galleries so I usually don't get a great response from the galleries." Ralph, like Fairey, is painting over a previous mural he had across the street from Wood Tavern near Wynwood Bar and Kitchen on N.W. 2nd Ave. "The end product is supposed to be an Abbey Road scene. We're morphing the Beatles into street artists instead of just musicians."

Street art duo, La Pandilla, from Puerto Rico, are also repainting an older mural outside of Wood Tavern. Juan Fernandez and Alexis Diaz make up this extremely talented team that morphs animals and humans together into these crazy creatures you wish were real. Watching them work is incredible. Up close they're drawing black lines with thin paintbrushes over a penciled wall that has 1/100th of the detail they're adding in as they go.