MIAMI, FL.- Miami Beach will once again become a gathering place for art lovers across the globe. International Fine Art Expositions (IFAE) announces the Miami International Art Fair (MIA) will return January 14th-17th, 2011 to Miami Beach Convention Center, with a private preview evening January 13th.

International Fine Art Expositions (IFAE), and MIA Associate Director Aldo Castillo, have designed the fair to be a catalyst for the finest galleries and dealers to access the South Florida market and has established cultural partnerships with museums, universities and other art-related institutions to ensure a fully integrated fair with innovative curatorial projects and an extensive lecture and panel series.

MIA 2011 is inaugurating a unique new model for the Miami art community, combining carefully selected contemporary and cutting edge galleries with a strong curatorial program aimed at supporting the Miami art community.

The fair will host 65 prestigious international dealers, exhibiting contemporary art, including photography, works on paper, sculpture, installations, art project rooms, and new media from emerging and established artists. "My commitment to the Miami International Art Fair - MIA will be the application of my many years of experience in order to make MIA a unique, contemporary platform for the world of collecting and exhibiting art," said Aldo Castillo.

MIA’s “Open Space Project ” introduces current art statements and installations; a new art lab experience for top collectors. Some of the 2011 MIA highlights include Improvising Architectures - an art proposal of installations with a coincident lecture and symposium series organized by Miami Curator, Gean Moreno. Participating artists include Nicolas Lobo, Christy Gast, Adler Gurrier, Heather Rowe, and Carlos Sandoval de Leon; panelists include Ruba Katrib, Associate Curator of MOCA. "What these exhibitions haven’t done as consistently is place the work of Miami artists alongside that of their international generational peers in a concrete way--that is, by literally presenting the work side-by-side, on equal footing" said Gean Moreno.

Other special exhibitions at MIA will include: Museum of Ice- an 65’ ice installation by Canadian conceptual artist Gordon Halloran. Halloran has created a new art-form, paintings in ice. Social Medium- an interactive light installation created by emerging Chicago artist Tristan Hummel and a specially commissioned wall of floating steel curtains by Colombia’s Claudia Hakim, a renown fiber artist currently working on creating art from industrial parts. In addition, MIA will gather important women with in the international art industry, including Brazil’s Maria Bonomi, South Africa’s Lorna Marsh,and Korea’s Hyung Joo Kim.

“One of MIA’s goals is to create a place where the international art world can interface with Miami’s dramatically growing local art dealer community now home to over 75 contemporary galleries” said Lee Ann Lester, IFAE founder and organizer of MIA.

During its début in January 2010, MIA welcomed more than 17,000 attendees during the 5-day run, garnering positive reviews and sales reports from the participating international exhibitors, collectors, curators and the general public. MIA 2010 attracted influential art collectors and curators from across the globe. Some of the more notable in attendance last year included Rosa de la Cruz, Richard Shack, Tony Goldman, Bonnie Clearwater and Janet Liedeker.

The fair will further promote the Miami art community by supporting the Wynwood’s second Saturday gallery walk and other Miami gallery openings.