Meet Ariel Baron-Robbins | Artist & Arts Professional

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ariel Baron-Robbins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ariel, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk just means being able to fail. When I was a teacher, I often told my students to create stuff that could potentially fail and fail epically. One needs the ability to tolerate bad results and then try again in a new way. This is the scientific method; ask a question, hypothesize, test, evaluate results and do it again. Risk is essential to the creative process. In my life, I took risks deciding to be an artist, on my choice of graduate school, in my creation of artwork which resists trends and in my belief in digital art. I have always been bullish on art and technology. It is our avant-garde.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My mother is an artist and professor of fine art so I followed her career path. I completed my BFA in painting and drawing and then went to graduate school at the University of South Florida. There I found myself exposed to the larger art world. Many of the professors there were successful in New York City and I realized I could explore my interest in conceptualism and video art. I received my MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies. My thesis paper was based on embracing the unpredictable. The show was comprised of 3 large drawings made of discarded papers and a series of videos of myself creating invisible drawings outdoors and of my own shadow.

Afterwards I taught at USF and in Tampa and then began teaching Computer and Digital Art at Florida Atlantic University in 2010. Quickly, I developed my interest more into the art and technology area, creating digital animations, gifs and honing my understanding of its unique historical roots.

This year I decided that after 12 years of teaching, mostly at Miami Dade College with the amazing chair of the Art and Philosophy Department, Bonnie Seeman, I would take the leap into the unknown and enroll at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art’s Art Business MA program. I’m currently interning at The Mud Foundation as their Outreach Coordinator, cataloguing private art collections and collecting work with my husband. I’m also on the Aquiscitions Committee at the ICA Museum Miami. I’m not sure where my future lies but I’m very excited about it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In the morning we would go on a run from my home in Coconut Grove. We would run 4 miles to Bachour Bakery in Coral Gables. There we would have breakfast, petit gateaux, yogurt and berries and coffee. Then we would either walk or take an uber home. After that we will go to The Mud Foundation in Little Haiti to see the current show. We can also stop at Mindy Solomon, Nina Johnson and Emerson Dorsch. For Lunch we will stop at La Natural which is my favorite new stop. Then we will go to Frederic Snitzer gallery on the way to the Design District. In the Design District we will go to the ICA museum and ask if Alex Gartenfeld the director is there to show us the latest exhibitions. For dinner, we will return to the grove and go to Atchana’s, a locally run thai restaurant, one of my favorite and most frequent dinner places.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Erin Parish is how I found Shout Out. She is an artist living in Miami that I saw her interview here. In my life story, my parents Paula Temple, artist and art professor and Adrian Baron-Robbin, architect and musician were my role model and created the path I followed.

My husband, Isaac Lapciuc is an incredible role model and support. He is an entrapeneur in Miami with a successful business, Delvalle Brands that he began at age 24. Through discussions with him and observing him work, I have learned an enormous amount.

Website: www.arielbaronrobbins.com

Instagram: @arielbaronrobbinsart

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/arielbaronrobbins

Twitter: @ArielBaronRobb1

Facebook: @ABRLArtAdvisory

Image Credits
Mud Foundation DACRA SOHO Beach House