Art With Me moved to the RC Cola Plant this year, and it felt like a clear pivot rather than a continuation. The old island edition lived in its own bubble, sunburned and slightly unreal, the kind of place where time slipped away. Wynwood is different. The new venue is raw, industrial, unmistakably Miami. You know exactly where you are at all times. That shift changed the tone of the festival, but not necessarily its purpose.
Photo Credit: Mazely.FP / Chancelor / _Casrose
What still sets Art With Me apart is its openness. This was one of the few Miami Art Week events where you saw people arrive with their kids, letting them paint, wander, and take part in the creative stations scattered across the grounds. Parents danced in short bursts, then rejoined their families. It felt less like an escape from real life and more like an invitation to bring real life with you. That matters, especially during a week that often forgets anyone overworked, underslept, or under forty.
At the center of it all stood Apotheneum, Anthony Fieldman’s towering installation that became the emotional anchor of the weekend. Light, sound, and scale worked together to slow people down. Telquel’s ambient composition ran from sunset until dawn, and you could feel its pull. People sat, lay down, stared upward, and stayed. Originally built for the playa, it carried that same sense of shared stillness. In a city that rarely pauses, this piece asked for your time and rewarded it.
The sound meditation area echoed that same intention. Packed every time you passed by, people wearing headsets let go completely, eyes closed, bodies relaxed. No phones, no rush, just breath and sound. It was a reminder that Art With Me has always been about contrast, movement followed by stillness, release followed by reflection.
Musically, there were real highlights. Christian Löffler delivered a beautiful set, thoughtful and emotional, full of patience and subtle tension. It was one of those performances that pulls you inward rather than pushing you forward. On the All Day I Dream stage, Pippi Ciez and Tim Green were exactly what that space needed. Warm, flowing, unforced. Their sets felt like long conversations rather than peak time statements, and the crowd stayed locked in, smiling, unhurried, fully present.
Eric Prydz, Dixon b2b Jimi Jules, Luciano, and the rest of the lineup brought consistency and confidence. These were artists who understood the setting and played to it rather than against it. Nothing felt rushed. Nothing felt thrown away.
Art With Me 2025 did not try to pretend it was the same festival it once was. The location changed, the context changed, and with that came new challenges. Still, the heart of it remained. You could feel the care in the curation, the effort from the team, and the personal touch that Matt Caines and the founders continue to bring to the project. In a Miami Art Week filled with excess and noise, Art With Me stayed human. It may have been messier this year, but it was honest. And sometimes that honesty is exactly what keeps a festival worth returning to.
