This week will be a busy, buzzy one for Miami Beach. Art collectors, fashion aficionados, sport and food enthusiasts, music buffs and crypto bros will descend on the sunny Florida city to network, party — and see some art. Bringing everyone to town is the annual Miami Art Week, which hosts over 20 art fairs each December. At the center of the week is Art Basel, closing out the year in its largest market: America.
Though US art sales dropped 9% to $24.8 billion in 2024, the region has remained a market leader for the art fair series, up 1% year-on-year and accounting for 43% of global art sales, according to the 2025 Art Basel UBS Art Market report. The sales dip sits below the global 12% average. The report’s authors put the US decline down, in part, to political uncertainty “surrounding the contentious presidential elections”.
Still, team members and attendees are optimistic about the upcoming fair, which is rounding out 2025. Art Basel Miami’s status as the “culminating art market event of the year” is down to the gathering of galleries who are on the pulse of what’s currently selling in the US, says Casey Lesser, chief curator at online art marketplace Artsy, positioning them to put their best foot forward. Art Basel Paris, which took place in October, also signaled a positive turn, says Art Basel director Bridget Finn. “The outcome in Paris was quite good for many of our galleries,” Finn says, adding that she’s ready to carry that energy through to Miami.
It’s not just Basel on the schedule. Art Basel’s sister fair, Design Miami, is also taking place this week — alongside the 20-plus other fairs that make up Miami Art Week. A jam-packed art schedule is supplemented by a vast offering of adjacent events across fashion, sport and food. Miami Art Week is where the overlap between cultural industries really comes to a head — and where younger people with an interest, if not a fluency, in art are able to dabble. Once they sort through the week’s goings on, that is.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB), running from December 3 to 7 (the first two days are VIP-only), as well as the wider Miami Art Week, which kicked off on December 1.
The Miami mood
Miami’s sunny and warm weather is a draw for collectors as much of the world — including the majority of the US — heads into the winter months. “It’s this incredible postcard of a place, but it’s also got such a rich arts community that has only gained strength and momentum over the last 23 years,” Finn says.
The warmth and ease that comes with the locale aligns well with what many art collectors are gravitating toward, Lesser says. “Artsy’s data shows our buyers are gravitating toward pieces that offer calm, be that through color or subject matter; the great outdoors, we’re seeing that desire to ‘touch grass’; and even lots of food art,” she says. Small works are selling particularly well, Lesser adds — a sign of the (economic) times.
The US focus of ABMB is key at a time when the market’s under strain. Art Basel Miami Beach has a very distinct energy that you feel as soon as you walk in, and there’s a reason people come back to the fair year after year,” says Matthew Newton head of UBS art advisory for the Americas. “It’s global in scope, but driven by the power of the US art market.” Two-thirds of the exhibiting galleries hail from the Americas, according to Art Basel.
This is key, Finn agrees. “It really is the geographical, but also the cultural and emotional nexus point between North, South and Central America,” she says. “The show itself is very representative of the full community of the Americas, and that’s a defining feature and one that adds this rich layer of depth.”
Youthful energy
The art market is more dynamic and open-minded than it’s been in years, Newton says, which he expects to manifest at ABMB. “We’re seeing a noticeable demographic shift of collectors dominating the market, especially among women and Gen Z, whose diverse tastes span a wider range of mediums and formats beyond the traditional,” he adds.
This year, Art Basel is moving its youngest galleries to the east entrance, offering them higher visibility, Finn explains. At ABMB, because the space is so large, booths tend to be bigger and more costly, she adds, which can make it difficult for younger voices to participate. To help give those that are participating more space, the fair has expanded its Nova and Positions sectors, which focus on work made within the last three years and solo presentations by younger galleries, respectively. “It’s the part of the fair where I always fall in love with new artists,” Artsy’s Lesser says of Positions. She’s especially keen to see Lisbon-based gallery Madragoa’s booth with young Italian painter Emilio Gola.
Art Basel is aiming to harness this youthful openness with the launch of Zero 10, its new platform for digital art that has been in the works for 18 months. It’s a return to form, of sorts. In 2022 and 2023, Art Basel was a hub for Web3 and NFT die-hards. This waned in 2024, and now that the (over)hype has died down, Finn is confident the platform will be a connector for those interested in the digital space but unfamiliar with the traditional art world; and for those in the modern gallery sector to familiarize with the digital. “There’s only going to be further growth in that arena, so this is a moment where it all kicks off,” she says.
Beyond Basel
Though satellite events are now staples during major art fairs, Miami is a different beast. At Miami Art Week, not only are there over 20 international art fairs, but over 1,000 galleries show, museums host special shows and events, and a crop of other activations pop up throughout the city. “Something unique to the Miami show compared to the others is that the entire city transforms,” Finn says, adding that events flow through more and more of the city each year.
Lesser always stops by NADA Miami and Untitled Art Miami Beach while in town, which she says are great for catching up with smaller galleries and discovering new artists. Museum shows she’s looking forward to include Woody de Othello at Pérez Art Museum Miami (Finn has just seen it, and can attest that it’s great), as well as Igshaan Adams at ICA Miami, who Lesser says does incredible tapestries, and Masaomi Yasunaga. The Rubell Museum is always a must-see, she adds: “There’s a solo presentation by rising painter Joanna van Son, who was just the artist-in-residence there, as well as a Thomas Houseago survey, which should be interesting.”
Industries collide
At art fairs globally, fashion has cemented its place, whether in partnering directly with the fairs themselves (as many do with Frieze), or via aptly timed events. This was especially relevant at Art Basel Paris, and shows no signs of slowing in Miami.
Marc Jacobs’s Joy artist capsule, which includes collaborations with the likes of Derrick Adams, David Shrigley and Hattie Stewart, will be on display at the fair. Pucci is returning for the second year running. Boss is sponsoring the Art Basel Awards for the first time, taking place on Thursday, December 4. “Where better to have an award ceremony and a more formal, fun party-oriented presentation, if you will, than Miami Beach?” Finn asks. “It’s reflective of Miami’s sort of loose and broader creative fabric. We are so focused show-on-show and the galleries are our primary clients. But it’s a really lovely moment for us to pay homage to the greater infrastructure of the contemporary art world and really take a moment to celebrate all facets.”
Elsewhere, Zegna, whose logo was splashed across Art Basel Paris’s VIP co-branded totes, is taking things up a notch in Miami, with the second US edition of its Villa Zegna concept. (The brand is an Art Basel partner.) Miu Miu is celebrating the redesign of its Miami Design District store with a December 3 event. Jimmy Choo is presenting an installation for Miami Art Week in partnership with Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev at its Miami Design District boutique. JW Anderson is partnering with Miami-founded The Webster, curating a selection of objects and celebrating with a cocktail event.
Outside of fashion, sport — a less common fixture on the art scene — will also have its moment in the sun. Japanese women’s wrestling league Sukeban is returning to Miami Art Week for the second year running. The NFL will also be present with its NFL Artist Replay experience, which will feature the artwork of retired tight end Martellus Bennett. Technogym has a booth at Design Miami and a pop-up at The Edition hotel.
There’ll be plenty of culinary activations also, including a pop-up (from December 1 to 4) from fashion-favorite culinary collective We Are Ona, in partnership with artist Sabine Marcelis. “Art Basel Miami felt like the perfect platform for us this year — it’s a moment where creativity, design and culture collide in an electric, sun-drenched way,” says We Are Ona founder Luca Pronzato.
These overlaps are exciting because it brings even more potential collectors into the fold, Artsy’s Lesser says. “I think we’re at a moment where the art world has a real opportunity to grow — but only if we make it more welcoming,” she says. “For more people to become collectors, we have to lower the barriers to entry, whether those are cultural, financial, or simply the intimidation factor that still surrounds the idea of ‘the art world’.”
Miami Art Week’s embrace of cross-industry events and projects offers a compelling model for how this can unfold, Lesser says. “The week is this incredible collision of culture — art, fashion, design, music, sports — and that mix brings in people from all corners of contemporary culture,” she says. “When someone encounters art alongside things they already love, they’re far more likely to engage, ask questions and see art as something that’s accessible to them.”
Correction: Matthew Newton’s title was updated to head of UBS art advisory for the Americas.
