The University of Miami presents Outsider, a community-based project by Master of Fine Arts candidate Anna Meier,  from May 8 – 27, at the University of Miami Art Gallery in Wyynwood, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 12, from 6  to 9 p.m.

Outsider draws on the complex history of Miami and focuses on the social and racial structures within the city’s different neighborhoods.  Using natural materials gathered from the streets of Miami,  Meier created ten wearable sculptures or body-scapes, each representing a different neighborhood in the city. She then returned to each neighborhood with the completed body-scape and asked a passerby to take her photograph. 

Outsider will feature these wearable sculptures and the 10 photographs of them taken in different locations around the city by different community members.  The intention behind this work, is to explore and test the boundaries of racial, social, and class divides within Miami by inverting the traditional roles of subject and photographer, and to stimulate a dialogue about how race relations in Miami and the country can be improved. The work featured in Outsider is strange, eerie, and a little silly, a reminder that laughter is often the best way to break down barriers.

Living and working in Miami, Meier received her B.F.A. in Fibers from the Oregon College of Art and Craft and is currently completing her M.F.A. in sculpture at the University of Miami. In her work, Meier focuses on blurring the lines between art and life to create beneficial and eye opening experiences. Each of her projects is an attempt to understand how art and creative work can make a positive impact on society.

The Wynwood Building is located at 2750 NW 3rd Avenue, Suite 4, Miami, FL 33127. A full schedule of exhibitions can be viewed at www.as.miami.edu/art.  Gallery hours* are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

*Hours may be subject to change, please call (305) 284-3161 to confirm times. Appointments and Private Tours available. For more follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @umartgalleries.

For more information about the exhibition contact Milly Cardoso, Gallery Director at [email protected].