When people think of Coral Gables, they think of the artistic and cultural scene that comes with it and its many valued cultural outlets: the Coral Gables Museum, the Coral Gables Art Cinema, Books & Books, GableStage at the Biltmore Hotel, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theater and others.

Therefore, it should be no surprise to anyone that the arts and culture was a fundamental part of George Merrick’s vision for the city’s identity as he went about designing it in the 1920s. A poet brought up in a family of artists, Mr. Merrick’s many close influences inspired his vision for the City Beautiful, following the City Beautiful trend in the 1920s and 1930s.

“George Merrick, the founder of Coral Gables, was a poet and was very interested in the arts in general. His mother, who designed the Merrick House, was a painter and a teacher, actually a professor of painting in college, and he was surrounded by family – his uncle was an illustrator, a very well-known painter, a muralist; his cousin was an architect – and this is the team that he assemble to basically make the city, design the city,” said Elvis Fuentes, executive director of the Coral Gables Museum.

“He surrounded himself with artists, painters, illustrators and, of course, architects. People there were for the most part very interested in the arts, so Coral Gables is actually sort of like the dream of a poet that came to fruition, thanks of course to the work of these amazing men that were working to make this vision a reality.”

Even 100 years later, the vision is a fundamental aspect of the Coral Gables experience, as people flock to the Gables to indulge in art, which HistoryMiami Museum Resident Historian Dr. Paul S. George says has encouraged the city to provide funding and support for these artistic institutions to preserve their space and presence for the audiences coming to see them.

“It’s historic, it’s managed well, it’s safe, it’s prim. You got a lot of support from government officials. They feel like a big part of the draw of the Gables are its cultural offerings, so they’ve worked at that to make sure it remains a hub,” said Dr. George.

As director of the Coral Gables Museum, Mr. Fuentes says that for him civic engagement is a fundamental aspect of the museum’s work.

“The Coral Gables Museum has a mission, and the mission is civic arts. Civic arts means architecture, design, environmental design, but also we have many years of work with the visual arts and how the visual arts integrate to architecture and the urban landscape … there’s many different perspectives.

“Another important part of the mission of the museum is this story of Coral Gables as a planned community envisioned by a poet … our collection is a mix of both – we have historical artifacts from the 1920s, to more recent history, even the 1980s or even the 2000s, because history is happening as we speak. Then, we also have an art collection that is small but very much focused on the city, not just Coral Gables, but living in the city, because the mission is not just Coral Gables, it’s really civic arts in general.”

As the Gables reaches its centennial, institutions including the Coral Gables Museum look back on its lengthy history with special exhibitions and displays marking its accomplishments and the vision of the man who made it, and whose work has become the lifeblood of the City Beautiful.
“Art is at the origin of Coral Gables,” said Mr. Fuentes. “It’s really part of the DNA, this connection with art, in particular the visual arts and architecture.”