Our Story
Wynwood Miami’s history
Wynwood is Miami’s creative heart, a dynamic neighborhood in the urban core known for its galleries, independent boutiques, chef-driven restaurants, breweries, design spaces, music venues and globally recognized street art.
Wynwood Miami’s history throughout the mid-to-late 1900s was shaped by its role as an enclave for Caribbean immigrants and as the home of Miami’s Garment District. Its warehouses and factories supported a thriving working community. Following a decade of economic exodus and decline, many buildings were left vacant or underused.
In the early 2000s, forward-thinking developers, property owners, artists and entrepreneurs began reimagining the neighborhood’s neglected warehouses, shuttered factories and expansive windowless facades. Through rehabilitation, collaboration and creative reinvention, these spaces became galleries, restaurants, shops, studios, offices and gathering places.
Street art helped spark Wynwood’s renaissance. The introduction of the Second Saturday Art Walk and the arrival of Art Basel in 2002 brought renewed attention to the neighborhood and strengthened its growing arts community. Artists from around the world transformed Wynwood’s walls into vast canvases, while the iconic Wynwood Walls helped place the district on the global map.
Today, Wynwood is a living, working neighborhood where artists, entrepreneurs, residents and businesses build alongside one another. Its creative energy extends beyond the murals, shaping its restaurants, retailers, cultural spaces and nightlife. Wynwood’s strength comes from the way creativity, commerce and community continually influence one another.
Recognized globally as a destination for art, fashion, technology, innovation and creative enterprise, Wynwood is a neighborhood shaped by reinvention, strengthened by diversity and always open to new ideas. It is a place to live, work, eat, play, learn and imagine what comes next.
- 250+ Businesses
- 50 City Blocks
- 200+ Street Murals
- 100+ Eateries
About the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID)
Since 2013, the Wynwood Business Improvement District, a municipal board of the City of Miami representing more than 400 property owners that comprise the 50-city-block Arts District, aims to build upon Wynwood’s role as a globally recognized center for arts, innovation and culture. It works to enhance security and sanitation services in the neighborhood, advocate for the betterment of the area, raise awareness of advancements being made, and plan for the future of Wynwood.