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No Vacancy Miami Beach 2026: Guide to 12 Hotel Art Installations

19 hours ago
6 min read

The City of Miami Beach presents the seventh edition of No Vacancy, Miami Beach, running from November 12 through December 19, 2026. Supported by the City of Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council, the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the annual juried public art competition installs site-responsive contemporary works across 12 hotels. Each selected artist received a $10,000 honorarium to create pieces specifically matched to architectural spaces ranging from historic Art Deco lobbies to exterior pavilions.


The program awards $35,000 in major prizes during Miami Art Week, including a $25,000 juried award and a $10,000 public vote award. All installations remain free and open to the public throughout the exhibition dates, turning South Florida hospitality corridors into accessible gallery environments. The following guide details the twelve participating properties and their respective art activations across Mid-Beach, Normandy Isle, North Beach, and South Beach.


Mid-Beach


CASA FAENA 



Casa Faena hosts artist Kevin Arrow and his project, "The Magic Is You!" Arrow draws on decades of 35mm slides, photographs, and ephemera gathered throughout South Florida to build a site-specific installation that examines the archival record, physical media, time, and the codification of regional memory. The property pairs Mediterranean Revival architecture from 1928 with curated public spaces in the heart of the Faena District.


Guests visiting the property have access to the hotel atrium, common salons, and on-site dining at Campo. Arrow integrates projected imagery and vintage slide assemblies directly into the building's public areas.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 604-8485 

Instagram: @faena


EDEN ROC MIAMI BEACH



Designed by architect Morris Lapidus in 1955, Eden Roc Miami Beach features an oceanfront profile along Millionaire's Row with multiple swimming pools, meeting salons, and dining destinations such as Nobu Miami and Ocean Social. For No Vacancy 2026, artist Emmett Moore presents "Riviera," a sculptural intervention responding to mechanical systems and ecological friction.


Moore shapes a continuous stainless steel exhaust pipe into an intricate knot. Resembling an ouroboros, the sculpture addresses obsolescence, internal combustion machinery, and the environmental impact of transport technologies across coastal Florida.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 704-7605 

Instagram: @edenrocmiamibeach


HOTEL CROYDON MIAMI BEACH



Hotel Croydon occupies a restored 1937 Art Deco property designed by E. Dean Parmalee, offering 103 guest rooms, a rooftop sun deck, and The Tavern restaurant. Artist Justin H. Long presents "Abyssal Wunderkammer," occupying a vintage display vitrine within the interior spaces.


The work presents a fictional archaeological collection of undersea artifacts constructed through techniques that simulate calcification, sea life accretion, and marine decay. Sculptures evoking Venus figurines with marine tails share space with simulated shipwreck remnants, luxury wristwatches, and deep-sea curiosities.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 938-1145 

Instagram: @hotelcroydon


Normandy Isle


INTERNATIONAL INN



Located on Normandy Isle overlooking Biscayne Bay, the International Inn is a 1956 MiMo landmark created by architect Melvin Grossman. Artist Lulu Sanchez takes over the hotel's glass-walled bayside pavilion with her installation, "Palm Court Ship: The Jury is Out at the International Inn".


Sanchez constructs a sculptural grove of towering, hand-built palms that emit internal illumination. The green glow coordinates with the property's vintage neon sign and is visible across the Normandy Isle bridge, referencing the work of South Florida art figures Mira Lehr and Michele Oka Doner.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 866-7661 

Artist Instagram: @lu_too


North Beach


SHERRY FRONTENAC OCEANFRONT RESORT



Designed in 1947 by architect Henry Hohauser, Sherry Frontenac Oceanfront Resort features oceanfront pools, direct beach access, and classic post-war Miami Beach architectural lines. Gonzalo Hernández exhibits seven large-scale jacquard-woven banners positioned across the property.


Titled "A-M-E-R-I-C-A," the project spells out the country's name using geometric patterns and color palettes sourced from South American national flags. The installation examines migration patterns, state borders, linguistic classification, and regional belonging.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 330-3010 


South Beach


AVALON HOTEL



Constructed in 1941 by architect Albert Anis, the Avalon Hotel sits at the center of the Ocean Drive Art Deco district and houses the longtime seafood venue A Fish Called Avalon. Multidisciplinary artist and ceramicist Morel Doucet unveils "To Bloom Under the Midnight Stars" within the venue.


Doucet reconfigures tropical flora through dark ceramics and organic forms. The installation presents a nocturnal study of diaspora, environmental change, and cultural preservation against South Florida's coastal changes.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026 

Phone: +1 (305) 538-0133 

Website: Official website 

Instagram: @avalonhotel


BALFOUR HOTEL MIAMI BEACH



Built in 1940 by architect Anton Skislewicz, The Balfour Hotel Miami Beach operates as an 82-room boutique property in the South of Fifth neighborhood, centered around a historic courtyard and plunge pool. Argentine artist Luján Candria installs "Living Archive" throughout the public window bays.


The site-specific artwork uses suspended, translucent textiles printed with fragmented photographs of native South Florida flora. The translucent layers react to shifting natural sunlight, contrasting pre-development botanical ecologies with modern urban construction.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026 

Phone: +1 (305) 538-1055 

Website: Official website 

Instagram: @balfourmiamibeach


KIMPTON SURFCOMBER HOTEL



Occupying prime Collins Avenue oceanfront, the Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel features Art Deco architecture, outdoor lounge courtyards, and direct pool access. Alex Nuñez exhibits "You Cannot Step into the Same Ocean Twice," turning the property's public zones into an immersive botanical corridor.


The installation combines printed aluminum palm fronds with an iridescent central portal that reflects viewers and projects spectrums of colored light across the grounds. Additional mixed-media paintings and paper studies line the adjacent interior walls.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026 

Phone: +1 (305) 532-7715 

Instagram: @surfcomberhotel


MARRIOTT STANTON SOUTH BEACH



Situated on Ocean Drive south of Fifth Street, the Marriott Stanton South Beach occupies a historic 1939 footprint designed by Anton Skislewicz, offering dual infinity pools and direct access to South Pointe Park. Cuban artist Marlon Portales presents "Busco en El Monte Amparo" in the hotel's open lounge galleries.


The exhibition consists of two large-scale figurative paintings that explore political exile, geographic displacement, and physical embodiment. Portales contrasts human anatomy against imagined Cuban landscapes to examine how cultural memory survives migration.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 536-7700 

Website: Official website 

Instagram: @stantonsouthbeach


THE BETSY HOTEL 




The Betsy Hotel anchors the northern end of Ocean Drive with deep colonial verandas, a dedicated poetry program, and The Betsy Orb, an architectural bridge connecting the hotel's two wings. Ricardo E. Zulueta uses this structural landmark for "RISING GLITCH LEVELS".


Zulueta projects custom video animations, ambient soundscapes, and digital glitch algorithms onto the curved white facade of The Betsy Orb. The piece addresses sea level rise, climate adaptation, and digital distortion in coastal cities.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 673-0044 

Instagram: @thebetsyhotel


THE ROYAL PALM SOUTH BEACH MIAMI 


 

Royal Palm South Beach Miami combines original 1939 Art Deco structures with modern oceanfront towers steps from Lincoln Road. Multidisciplinary textile designer Diana Eusebio exhibits "Home, Safe," an exploration of Afro-Indigenous and Caribbean identity.


Eusebio sources local plant extracts and natural dyes to create layered textile tapestries and documentary photographs. The work focuses on cultural preservation, indigenous botany, and safe spaces for displaced communities in South Florida.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 604-5700 

Website: Official website 


THE SHELBORNE BY PROPER



The Shelborne by Proper occupies an oceanfront 1940 landmark with historic interiors, a landmark pool diving board, and restaurants by Proper Hospitality. Artist Yanira Collado presents "Converging Timelines/Woven Silhouettes" across the hotel's mezzanine and gallery corridors.


Collado uses reclaimed architectural wood, salvaged paper, and hand-woven textiles to construct geometric configurations. Her work highlights unrecorded Caribbean labor histories and traditional craft systems preserved through migratory generations.


Admission: Free admission, open daily November 12 through December 19, 2026

Phone: +1 (305) 341-1400 

Website: Official website 

Instagram: @theshelborne


By ML Staff. Photos/Courtesy of each venue listed.


 
 
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