Art Miami’s stellar 2009 run began on December 1st with a ribbon cutting and a 20th Anniversary Proclamation presentation by Miami City Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. A gala VIP reception, attended by 6,500 people, followed. At what Caldwell Snyder Gallery called “the best opening of any art fair,” museum curators rubbed elbows with artists including James Rosenquist and Frank Stella and with collectors from the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia—Steve Wynn, Marvin Ross Friedman, Marty Margulies, Jorge Perez, Pat and Larry Stewart, Mary and Frank Howard, Joyce Kan, Pearl Lam, Noel and Terry Neelands, John Ferin, Jeff Roth, Matthew Adell, and Naomi Campbell. Opening night proceeds and a percentage of sales from participating galleries benefited The Lotus House Women’s Shelter, netting nearly $9,000 for the program. In the two years of its involvement, Art Miami has raised more than $40,000 for the shelter, founded in 2006 by Constance Collins Margulies and the Sundari Foundation. The opening night event was crowned by a multimedia performance by the Black Estate presented by Claire Oliver Gallery.