Oolite Arts | Future Present Past: Conversation on Grassroots as Catalyst for Change (Art Talk)

A panel discussion reflecting on grassroots organizing, the history of ArtCenter/Oolite Arts, and the transformative power of art in community engagement. The talk brings together alumni and cultural leaders to examine how past efforts can shape future artistic activism.

About This Event
Join us for a conversation on grassroots organizing and the role of ArtCenter/Oolite Arts as a vehicle for constructive change and community development. Moderated by Marie Vickles and william cordova, panelist will include Lázaro Amara, lou anne colodny, Tayina Deravile, and Kristen Thielel.

This program is presented in conjunction with Penumbras: a narrative of Art Center/South Florida • Oolite Arts (1984-2014), an exhibition co-curated by william cordova and Marie Vickles. The exhibition honors the foundational decades of Art Center/South Florida, now Oolite Arts, and the alumni artists who shaped its early legacy.

Marie Vickles. Born in Colorado, Vickles completed her studies at Florida State University in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, and at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with a focus on Textile, Surface and Communication Design. She lives and works in Miami, FL. Vickles is a museum educator, independent curator, and artist whose practice centers on creativity, equity, and community engagement. She is the Senior Director of Education at Pérez Art Museum Miami and Curator-in-Residence at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. Over the past 20 years, she has organized programs and exhibitions across the U.S. and the Caribbean and currently serves on the Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places Professional Advisory Committee.

william cordova. Born in Lima, Peru, cordova holds an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives and works in Miami, FL and New York, NY. Cordova is an interdisciplinary cultural practitioner whose work engages the roots of abstraction, the history of textile encoding, and non-linear narratives. His work has been presented at the Venice Biennale, Havana Biennial, Whitney Biennial, Prospect New Orleans, and SITE Santa Fe. Recent awards include the Smithsonian Fellowship, Trellis Art Fund, Lunder Fellowship (2025), Creative Capital Award (2024), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2021).

Kristen Thiele. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Thiele holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1995) and an MFA from Miami International University (2012). She lives and works in Miami, FL. Thiele is a painter, printmaker, accomplished bassist, and an Oolite Arts alumna (2000–2010). She co-directs Bridge Red Studios/Project Space in North Miami with her father Robert Thiele. Her work has been published in The Art of Modern Rock, Miami Contemporary Artists, and 100+ Degrees in the Shade.

lou anne colodny. Born in Denver, Colorado, colodny holds a BA from the University of Florida. She lives and works in North Miami, FL. colodny is the founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, and an artist working across installation, video, drawing, and multimedia. Her works are held in the collections of Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Southeast Museum of Photography, and MoCA North Miami, among others. Awards include the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship in Visual and Media Arts (2008, 2023). She is currently director of “under the bridge art space” in North Miami.

Tayina Deravile. Born in Boston, MA. Deravile holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Central Florida and an MS in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. She lives and works in Fort Lauderdale, FL and South Florida. Deravile is an independent curator and cultural practitioner whose practice focuses on marginalized voices, the multifaceted nature of identity, and placemaking. She is Gallery Manager at Girls’ Club Collection in Fort Lauderdale, the only private collection primarily exhibiting contemporary art by women. She began her career at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale.

Lázaro Amaral. Born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Miami, FL, Amaral lives and works in Miami, FL. He is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, installation, and collaborative projects rooted in identity, community, and cultural memory. Amaral was an Artist-in-Residence at ArtCenter/South Florida (1997–2007), where his decade at Art Center supported his development of a grassroots approach to artistic practice and public engagement. His work has been exhibited across South Florida and internationally. Amaral continues to champion the role of artists as cultural organizers within Miami\’s ever evolving landscape.