Hernan Bas (b. 1978, Miami, FL)
Miami, FL, January 19, 1977 8:45 AM – 2022
As part of the Miami Worldcenter Public Art Program, Miami, FL, January 19, 1977 8:45 AM by Miami-born artist Hernan Bas offers a quiet, reflective counterpoint to traditional public monuments. Rather than dramatizing a political or historic rupture, Bas commemorates a gentle anomaly—the only recorded snowfall in Miami’s history. This whimsical meteorological event, which occurred on January 19, 1977, left a cultural imprint on the city’s collective memory. Bas, who learned of it years later through an old Miami Herald headline, channels that surreal moment into a poetic visual narrative.
Known for his lush, symbol-rich paintings that explore themes of queerness, mysticism, and nostalgia, Bas here reimagines the city’s skyline under a fleeting dusting of snow. His painting acts as a “quiet history painting,” turning a soft, strange event into a site of wonder and shared storytelling. Bas recalls anecdotes from friends and family—like the dentist who abandoned a patient mid-treatment just to glimpse the falling flakes—highlighting how the rare moment disrupted routine and stirred a sense of magic across the city.
Square Edge’s Role
Square Edge Inc. served as project manager for the installation and integration of Bas’s work within the Miami Worldcenter public art initiative, ensuring the successful realization of this uniquely local memory on a monumental platform. Square Edge worked in close collaboration with the artist, curators Primary Projects and Jeffrey Deitch, and the property developers to manage timelines, secure approvals, and align the project with the broader architectural and experiential goals of the development.
Given the artwork’s sensitivity to local history and public interpretation, Square Edge played a key role in ensuring that all visual and spatial decisions respected the intimacy of Bas’s vision while still engaging the scale of urban development. This included vetting site placement for visibility and impact, managing transportation logistics for the piece, and supporting exhibition infrastructure such as lighting and signage.
More than just overseeing the logistics, Square Edge facilitated the nuanced dialogue between contemporary art, civic memory, and the evolving identity of Downtown Miami. By helping bring Miami, FL, January 19, 1977 8:45 AM into the public realm, Square Edge once again demonstrated its ability to bridge high-level construction management with curatorial collaboration—an intersection that is increasingly central to modern real estate development.