Miami Art Week 2025: New Orleans on the World Stage

Jul 1
4 min read

Celebrating our crew, our community, and the artists who made Miami Art Week 2025 unforgettable.

Every December, Miami Beach transforms into the epicenter of the contemporary art world. Art Basel Miami Beach anchors the week, but the real story is bigger than one fair – it's Untitled Art Fair, Scope, Art Miami, and dozens of satellite exhibitions all happening within days of each other, and all demanding the same level of precision and care.

This is where our craft and expertise get put to the test. We're especially proud of what our team accomplished this last round and the talented folks we got to work alongside.

The Super Bowl of the Art Industry

"Miami Art Week is like the Super Bowl of this profession," says Brittan Rosendahl, who's been at Denali since day one. "The highlight for most of us is working with the highest caliber peers in our field. We're surrounded by incredibly humble artists, musicians, and creatives of all sorts. These are the most talented, experienced, and knowledgeable professionals in this industry."

In December 2025, our crew spent the week working Miami Art Week through our collaboration with Masterpiece International. We handled installation and deinstallation for multiple galleries, working 16+ hour shifts and clocking tens of thousands of steps per day. Each crate we freighted, unpacked, and re-packed contains work that may have taken years to create. So we understand how meaningful the work we do is – it’s just as important as any other art handling gig, but the stakes are much, much higher.

The Mississippi to Miami: Cristina Molina and Other Plans Gallery

One of the most meaningful projects we worked on was the installation of Entre Agua Salada y Agua Dulce (Between Salty and Sweet Water) by New Orleans-based artist Cristina Molina, presented by Other Plans Gallery at Untitled Art Fair.

This was a significant moment, as it was both Cristina's art fair debut and Other Plans Gallery's first presentation at a major fair. Founded and directed by Emily R. Wilkerson, Other Plans has become a key voice in New Orleans' contemporary art scene, and seeing them step onto the national stage felt like watching our own community shine.

Cristina's installation is imagined as a portrait of prominent waterways that link her two home territories: Miami and New Orleans. The Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean are personified through dance and movement as untamed dual spirits who hold the endless memory of the most important waterways in the American South.

Presented as a five-channel video installation with accompanying sculptures made from wild Mississippi River clay, the work draws parallels between water bodies, spiritual bodies, and physical bodies. The corporeal water dances serve to symbolically incarnate the contested and celebratory aspects of the River and Ocean's history and memory.

For those of us who live and work in New Orleans, this piece resonates deeply. We understand the precarity of our existence here: how water defines us, sustains us, and threatens us. Installing work that grapples with these realities at one of the world's most prestigious art fairs felt like representing not just the artist and gallery, but our entire city's relationship with water.

"The team is always easy to work with, friendly, and accommodating," Cristina says. "Denali can handle multiple logistics at once, from shipping to installation and care for works in the process. I feel confident that my work is in good hands when I work with them. Everything arrived on time and safely. I really appreciate the timeliness and removing one more thing off of my plate."

NOLA Presence

Other galleries and artists with New Orleans connections also made their mark at Miami Art Week 2025:

812 Royal Gallery presented works by Joseph Adolphe and Nicole Katsuras at Scope Art Show.

Callan Contemporary presented Raine Bedsole, James Kennedy, David Borgerding, Eva Hild, Bradley Sabin, Pablo Atchugarry, and Udo Nöger as part of Art Miami Fair.

We're proud to support NOLA’s artists and galleries as they reach national and international audiences. When local galleries trust us to transport and install their most important presentations, it's a responsibility we take seriously (while always keeping the crew's morale high with some fun along the way!).

The Miami Dream Team

Art fair installation is a team sport. Our Miami Art Week 2025 Denali crew included:

Ryan Crawford, Charlie Mabry, Alex Buschmann, John Craun, Nicole Sistrunk, Chris Herbeck, Srdjan Loncar, Brittan Rosendahl, Chris Givens, Abe Geasland, and Dan Alley.

Each person brings specific expertise: rigging, carpentry, art handling, problem-solving, and client relations. When you're working 12-16-hour days in high-pressure environments, you need people who stay calm, work efficiently, and maintain quality no matter how exhausted they are.

What It Means to Represent New Orleans

Art fairs are where careers get made, collections get built, and the art world's attention focuses for brief, intense moments. When New Orleans artists and galleries show up at these events, they're representing our city's creative community on an international stage.

And we're proud of the part we play in all of that. To handle work that addresses the precarity of our existence, like Cristina Molina's Entre Agua Salada y Agua Dulce, install presentations that introduce New Orleans artists to collectors and curators who might never visit our city, and to support galleries like Other Plans as they take their first steps into the national contemporary art fair circuit.

All of it is an honor and a privilege, because every time New Orleans artists and galleries shine, the farther our collective story reaches. And that’s something that’s needed in this moment more than ever – for our voices to be heard.

Looking Ahead: Miami Art Week 2026

We'll be back in Miami in just a few months! December 2026 is fast approaching, and once again, we’re partnering with Masterpiece International to provide installation, deinstallation, packing, crating, and transportation services for galleries presenting at Miami Art Week.

If you're a gallery – especially if you’re based in the Gulf South – considering presenting at Art Basel Miami Beach, Untitled, Scope, or any of the satellite fairs, reach out early. Fair coordination and transportation requires advance planning, and experienced installation teams book up months ahead.

Get in touch to discuss your art fair plans.

This post is part of our Shop Talk series, where we share insights on art fabrication, installation, and handling. Want more? Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on projects, art fair news, and behind-the-scenes work.