February is romance month in Miami, which means you’re (a) superstoked for weeks of canoodling time, (b) about to sink into a monthlong bout of depression, or (c) hoping Tinder will come through (for once) and find you someone, anyone.

For those of you in the first and last camps, we’ve rounded up a list of Miami’s most romantic places so you can impress the hell out of your S.O. (or whoever swipes right for you).

10. Miami Marine Stadium
OK, so this graffiti-covered waterfront landmark isn’t open to the public, but that’s part of what makes it über-romantic. There’s something supersexy about sneaking around (even if it’s just the perimeter). With epic views, oodles of dark corners, and plenty of spots to scrawl Me + You = Love 4Eva, it’s an amazing spot for a spontaneous snuggle. Just be cautious, because getting arrested would ruin the moment.

Click to read the rest via the Miami New Times.

Break out those Rollerblades, or even your old-school, four-wheeled lace-ups: the long awaited roller rink takeover of Bayfront Park makes its debut on February 26.

Known as Bay Skate, the project won the Miami Foundation’s Public Space Challenge last year, and the plan is to wow Miamians with an evening of skating, celebrities, funky tunes, food, drinks, and nonstop throwbacks.

Marcos Macias is bringing the project to fruition with the help of his brother Alex and the rest of the team at Macias Advertising, plus a whole host of other partners and participants.

Originally, the idea was to recreate the Monday night skate scene at Miami’s famous Hot Wheels roller rink. They moved the day to Thursday, however, to draw a bigger crowd.

The plan is to set up a rink surrounding Bayfront Park’s Pepper Fountain.

Click to read the full story via the Miami New Times.

If you were a kid with an affinity for anything artistic, you definitely visited a Pearl Paint Art Supply Store. Heck, you could have even bought watercolors or a brush at the South Miami location as recently as a few months ago. But like library card catalogs and VCRs, Pearl is now a relic that today’s kiddos will never experience. The chain went into bankruptcy, and shuttered its last location–the flagship in Fort Lauderdale — in August of this year.

Rather than let the store’s lengthy history go gently into that good night, Barry Fellman of the Center for Visual Communication decided to rage, rage against the dying the of light. Fellman bought the store’s stock and has recreated the Pearl experience in his gallery space, just in time for Basel revelers.

Click to read on.

Whether you were a sketcher of ligers a la Napoleon Dynamite or the Picasso of, ahem, man parts like Superbad’s Seth, it’s likely you were into some kind of doodling back in the day. And while all kids are artists, as adults, artistic expression tends to go out the window with recess and training bras.

Grown-ups, however, long for a creative outlet (and a sense of connection) as much as kiddos — a need Miami-based non-profit U-Doodle has seen firsthand. Created by two former UM students, the group is bringing doodling back in a big way.

Click to read on.

Miami is a photogenic lass. From ocean to sky to swaying palms, it’s hard to take a bad picture of our tropical paradise. And the graffitied, weather-worn charm of Key Biscayne’s Marine Stadium, in particular, is an Instagrammer’s wet dream.

This weekend, 30 lucky photo fiends have been granted all-access passes to Miami’s historic landmark to shoot, filter and share as they see fit. They’ll get to meet all-star stadium advocate Gloria Estefan, watch nine renowned street artists create mural masterpieces and meet the stadium’s architect, Hilario Candela. And while you can’t join them in person, you can follow the fun on Instagram.

Click to read on. 

Once upon a time, before Chili’s and Starbucks, Coconut Grove was an artist’s parish, where the free-spirited danced, painted, and played their days away. Now the population is much more likely to make harried commutes to Brickell in their BMWs, but we digress. Twice a year, the shaded enclave reclaims its artistic roots when musicians take to the streets to celebrate music, peace, and all things summer at Fête de la Musique.

Click to read on.

The cranes of Port Miami are hard to miss. They stand as a towering beacon to the city’s cargo trade, greeting MacArthur Causeway drivers like steel monsters straight out of Star Wars.

They’re pretty much metal eyesores, but local artist Peter Hammar wants to transform the lofty mechanical birds into an art project. He has proposed to paint the cranes pink and light ’em up so they look like Florida’s favorite bird — the flamingo.

Click to read on.