Crossing the Bridge
Curated by Claire Breukel and Lauryn Lawrence
Feb. 25 to May 24, 2026
Opening reception: Feb. 25, 6-9 p.m.

Miami Beach, Fla. — Oolite Arts presents Crossing the Bridge, an alumni-focused exhibition that brings together artists whose practices reflect evolving trajectories, sustained and complex relationships, and interactions with ideas of community over time. Curated by Claire Breukel and Lauryn Lawrence, the exhibition will be on view from Wednesday, Feb. 25, through Sunday, May 24, 2026.

The exhibition features works by Edouard Duval-Carrié, Kerry Phillips, Najja Moon, Susan Lee-Chun and Yanira Collado. Crossing the Bridge explores the concept of alumni as both an active and abstract relationship informed by artists’ works and careers. The exhibition examines how these artists’ trajectories become embedded within broader cultural, social and geographic narratives shaped by affiliation and place.

The title references transition, movement and growth, while offering a subtle nod to Miami — a city defined by crossings between neighborhoods, histories, communities and sociopolitical contexts that underpin its geography. Within the exhibition, the bridge functions as a metaphor for artistic development over time, connecting past experiences with present practices and future possibilities, and for the surmounting of challenges.

By centering alumni voices, Crossing the Bridge situates Oolite Arts as a site of long-term engagement, albeit a temporary point in many artists’ careers. Participating artists reflect on ideas and constructs of belonging and community formation, positioning artistic practice as central to collective memory and shared cultural production.

“In antipathy to the increasing commercialization of art and the formalization of institutions, we have curated an exhibition that forefronts artistic practice, expression and collective thinking within the parameters of Oolite Arts’ alumni program, positing it as a nonfinite program that can grow and evolve, continually informed by new and existing artist alumni,” share curators Lauryn Lawrence and Claire Breukel.

A series of public programs accompanying the exhibition will emphasize solution-oriented dialogue, foregrounding artist agency and the role artists play in shaping resilient communities, as well as the possibility for collective movement to effect change. These programs are designed to encourage exchange, reflection and the exploration of improved models for collective support rooted in collaboration and care.

Crossing the Bridge invites audiences to consider the concept of alumni and encourages the empowerment of its constituents as ongoing contributors to a living artistic ecosystem that continues to evolve through productive creative exchange.

Exhibition Details

Crossing the Bridge
Feb. 25 – May 24, 2026
Monday–Friday, noon–5 p.m.
Admission: Free

Programming

Assemblage Building Workshop
Hosted by Kerry Phillips
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
6–8 p.m.
Admission: Free

This workshop invites guests to reflect on the objects they have leaned on to make their work, tell their stories and hold memories that may no longer serve their original function. Participants will create an assemblage that rejuvenates these objects, giving them new life and context.

Panel Discussion: Edouard Duval-Carrié and Yanira Collado
Moderated by Lauryn Lawrence
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
6–8 p.m.
Admission: Free

About Oolite Arts

The mission of Oolite Arts is to support artists and advance the knowledge and practice of contemporary visual arts and culture in South Florida. Oolite Arts creates opportunities for experimentation and innovation and encourages the exchange of ideas across cultures through residencies, exhibitions, public programs, education and outreach.