Miami Arts Guide: City Theaters, Public Art and Where to See Shows

Digital Towns files no separate guides under the Miami arts section yet, so this hub answers the main Miami arts questions directly and points to the Wynwood Walls, Vizcaya and Art Deco era guides elsewhere on the site.

Miami arts run on two government tracks. The City of Miami manages the Olympia Theater and lists the Manuel Artime Theater and the Little Haiti Cultural Center as its other event venues (City of Miami), and it runs a city Art in Public Places program in its Planning Department (City of Miami AIPP). Miami-Dade County, through its Department of Cultural Affairs, runs the county Art in Public Places program (Miami-Dade Art in Public Places) and the Culture Shock Miami ticket program (Culture Shock Miami).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of Miami website, the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs website, the Culture Shock Miami website and the Adrienne Arsht Center website.

The City of Miami manages and maintains the 1926 Olympia Theater on East Flagler Street and lists two other city event venues, the Manuel Artime Theater and the Little Haiti Cultural Center (City of Miami).

The Olympia Theater was designed by the atmospheric architect John Eberson, opened in 1926 and received a designation from the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and the city says it is now managed and maintained by the City of Miami. The city's Olympia page says the theater currently houses a 360-degree digital Van Gogh exhibit, with tickets through Fever Up and exhibit questions sent by email to the exhibition operator, and lists 786-991-9008 and [email protected] as the venue contact (Olympia Theater). The same page still says the theater is not accepting new events or applications until 2025, so parts of it appear out of date; organizers should confirm with the venue contact.

The Manuel Artime Theater is a city owned and operated theater that can seat 880 people for parties, symphonies, concerts and more; the City of Miami says it purchased the theater to provide the community with an affordable venue for events and to showcase local artists. The rental page takes questions at (305) 960-4684 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday (City of Miami), while the theater's contact page lists its office at (786) 983 6967 and [email protected] (Manuel Artime Theater).

The Little Haiti Cultural Complex keeps cultural center hours of 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, and is closed Sunday; its Caribbean Marketplace at 5925 NE 2nd Avenue is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and the complex notes that operating hours are subject to change (Little Haiti Cultural Complex). Its proscenium theatre has auditorium style seats, two balconies, a 1,370 square foot stage and a control booth, and its art gallery is described as a space for local artists to display a vast collection of works and an event venue.

The Adrienne Arsht Center is at 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132, and says it has served as the cultural pulse of Miami since opening in 2006 in the heart of downtown (Arsht Center).

The Arsht describes itself as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and says it produces more than 400 annual events that generate 11,500 local jobs and $125 million in economic impact, and offers more than 100 learning experiences for 80,000 children every year (Arsht Center). It says it is home to touring Broadway musicals, jazz and classical music concerts and an award-winning Miami-based theater program, and that its free annual events include Gospel Fest Miami, Art + Mind Day, Heritage Fest and an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration. Those figures are the center's own and describe the Arsht as an organization, not the Miami arts scene as a whole.

The Arsht box office answers at 305.949.6722, the same number listed for accessibility, and the center lists call center hours of noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (Arsht Center). Separately, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places lists the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts among the county sites where its artworks are installed (Miami-Dade Art in Public Places).

Public art in Miami is paid for by two separate 1.5% set-asides: the City of Miami program re-established on January 12, 2017 (City of Miami AIPP), and the Miami-Dade County program established in 1973 (Miami-Dade Art in Public Places).

On January 12, 2017, the City of Miami Commission, under Ordinance No. 13657, re-established the Art in Public Places Program. The city program specifies that 1.5% of eligible public capital improvement project funds be set aside for the commission, purchase and installation of artworks in a variety of public settings, and it sits in the city Planning Department; the division lead contact is Indra Alam, Public Art Manager, at (305) 416-1096 (City of Miami).

The county program is the older of the two. Miami-Dade Art in Public Places was established in 1973 with the passage of an ordinance allocating 1.5% of construction cost of new county buildings for the purchase or commission of artworks, and the county describes it as one of the first public art programs in the country (Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs). It is overseen by a citizens' Trust appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, which receives recommendations on acquisitions and commissions from a Professional Advisory Committee of professionals in art, art history, public art, architecture, landscape architecture and architectural history. The Trust has acquired or commissioned over 650 works of art, installed countywide at sites including Miami International Airport, Metrorail and Metromover stations, PortMiami, Zoo Miami, parks, fire stations, libraries, police stations, public housing developments, courthouses and community health centers.

The two programs share a name but draw on different money: the city program on eligible City of Miami capital improvement project funds, and the county program on the construction cost of new county buildings (Miami-Dade Art in Public Places).

Teens and young adults ages 13 to 22 can buy $5 tickets to performances and museums in and around Miami-Dade through Culture Shock Miami, a program of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs (Culture Shock Miami).

With the purchase of one $5 ticket for someone in that age range, a second $5 ticket can be bought for a person of any age. A teen or young adult between 13 and 22 must be present to pick up tickets, with the email confirmation and one form of ID such as a school-issued student ID, a report card showing the age, or a government-issued ID (Culture Shock Miami). The program also recruits students ages 13 to 22 to write blog posts about arts events in Miami-Dade County for community service hours, and in mid October 2026 its listings included a MOAD + Kinetic Family Event presented by the Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at MDC on October 18 (Culture Shock Miami).

Culture Shock Miami sorts its listings by dance, film, museums, music, theatre and visual art, and invites arts organizations to share information about their events and to donate tickets (Culture Shock Miami). Free options also exist: the Arsht lists free annual community events such as Heritage Fest and Gospel Fest Miami (Arsht Center).