Artist-run gallery Dimensions Variable has gotten quite used to being in a state of flux. From opening in a donated space in the Design District in 2009 to then functioning as a pop-up gallery before settling in its former downtown Miami location, the gallery has finally found a more permanent home.
Dimensions Variable and Miami Dade College have formed a one-of-a-kind partnership. Pairing a nonprofit, artist-run space with the largest educational institution in the country, the new agreement offers the gallery an eight-year, rent-free lease, plus the promise of programming independence for the gallery’s owners, artists Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova and Frances Trombly. Such autonomy is critical, Rodriguez-Casanova says, to an artist-run space, which focuses on presenting innovative, risk-taking exhibitions without having to depend on sales-driven income of the works.