Before Justin Trieger and Sara Yousuf came up with the idea for CULTRA, they figured there were two issues at hand: One, how to unite Miami’s disjointed communities of artists and creatives, and two, how to bring foot traffic to Downtown’s waterfront and green spaces.
“We thought about using them as a space to host artistic events to maybe get people thinking differently about ways to activate those parks and the assets they provide to Downtowners,”
Trieger said. Trieger, co-founder of Buskerfest Miami, and Yousuf, co-founder of Emerge Miami, wanted Miamians to feel a more urgent sense of ownership over their public spaces.
CULTRA was chosen as one of The Miami Foundation’s 2016 Public Space Challenge winners, launching the monthly open mic series that would occur every third Thursday between January and May 2017. “The Public Space Challenge is one of the few instances where a private individual can receive support for a dream project,” Yousuf said.
“The more ideas we have, the more better ideas end up getting selected, which means the city ends up with a more vibrant culture and marketplace of ideas,” she said.
This year, The Miami Foundation is investing $305,000 to make Miamians’ top ideas a reality. Everyone in Greater Miami can submit an idea to the Public Space Challenge through April 6 to help make our city a more vibrant, engaged place to live.