http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/arts/design/miamis-refurbished-stadium-will-be-decked-out-in-street-art.html 2016-09-21 06:17:52 Miami’s Refurbished Stadium Will Be Decked Out in Street Art A dozen artists have contributed work to the Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins’ newly renovated home. === A dozen giant street-art murals, some up to 150 feet wide, by 12 artists, will be on view at the The project, which has been kept under wraps by the artists and the team until now, was commissioned by the Dolphins’ owner, Stephen M. Ross, and Goldman Global Arts, a new company dedicated to major art projects. The stadium has been under renovations in recent months that cost an estimated $500 million and included rebranding the venue with its new name. (The venue has had several names over the years, and was until recently known as Sun Life Stadium.) “We were renovating this stadium to be something more than just a football stadium,” Mr. Ross said in a phone interview, describing the project as part of a broader attempt to make “a major entertainment center.” In recent weeks, nine artists and art groups including The first three works commissioned for the stadium, by The art is mostly abstract, bright and colorful, though some works include nods to football. Five more artists will complete pieces in the stadium in October and November. By December, about 30,000 square feet of stadium walls will be covered. By comparison, it will have 22,400 square feet of video screens. The idea for the installation was born of conversations between Jessica Goldman Srebnick, the chief executive of the property development firm Goldman Properties has led redevelopment projects in areas including Center City in Philadelphia and SoHo in New York. About 10 years ago, the company set its sights on the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. In 2009, aiming in part to revitalize street traffic in the area, Ms. Srebnick’s father, Tony Goldman, established When Ms. Srebnick and Mr. Tunney, a resident artist at Wynwood Walls, heard about the stadium renovation, they began talking with the Dolphins about the potential for an art project there. “It really is about taking what is extraordinary about Miami and about culture and about global art and infusing it into an environment that most people wouldn’t really think about,” Ms. Srebnick said in a phone interview. Over the last year, she and Mr. Tunney have worked with Mr. Ross to choose the works that will appear in the stadium. One artist, Mr. Hicks, has made a giant rendering of Miami’s landscape for the project. He traveled to Miami in the spring and spent hours walking the streets and took a helicopter ride to see the city from above to help generate ideas. He will bring his son to Sunday’s game, he said. “Nowadays we’ve gotten to a place where sports in a way has kind of become the religion of a lot of people,” Mr. Hicks said. “I guess the stadium would be the church.”