In Practice @ Mahara + Co. /  by Crystal Pearl

On View
February 21 - 28, 2026

Mahara + Co Gallery

In Practice presents the work of the Miami Arts Charter Visual Arts faculty —seven educators who maintain active studio practices alongside their commitment to teaching. The works on view reflect ongoing visual and conceptual investigations shaped by personal inquiry, material exploration, and research, revealing how studio practice and classroom experience continually inform one another.
Featuring works by Nicole Burko, Matthew Forehand, Lisa Gomez, Gonzalo Hernandez, Crystal Pearl Molinary, Corinne Bernard, and Pedro Sena, the exhibition demonstrates how artistic practice extends beyond the classroom and is translated into the language of teaching.

It was so fun to show work with my friends and colleagues from MAC. Humbled to be in such good company!

GisMo work @ Frost Art Museum /  by Crystal Pearl

On View
February 04 -
April 12, 2026

Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum

The exhibition Grit & Grain: Four Decades of Lens-Based Practice at FIU brings together lens-based works by FIU alumni—many acquired through the Betty Laird Perry Award—alongside photographs by faculty to examine the lasting influence of the university’s photography program. Grounded in a teaching approach that emphasized intuition, close looking, and the artist as a critical witness, the program shaped generations of photographers studying under figures such as Ed Del Valle, Mirta Gómez, William Maguire, and Peggy Nolan, among others. In placing alumni and faculty work in dialogue, the exhibition traces a shared commitment to sharpening the artist’s eye and voice. Together, these works form a vignette not only of South Florida, but of artists’ lives more broadly, with an attentiveness to place, experience, and the act of seeing as both personal and taught.

I’m grateful to have one of my collaborative works with GisMo included in this exhibition. Buscando Wenupau from 2008 has come full circle to the place where the ideas for this series began. It’s wonderful to be able to share my work alongside that of my peers, teachers and mentors at FIU.

Fresh Art International Podcast /  by Crystal Pearl

Check out this episode of the podcast, Fresh Art International, featuring the extraordinary Dr. Jillian Hernandez discussing her book, Aesthetics of Excess. In it she explains her theories behind the book, the culture of chonga and briefly talks about my work. Audio of my piece, Off the Chain, is featured in the podcast as well. A truly thought provoking listen! Thank you to Jillian and to Cathy Byrd of Fresh Art International.

Marking Time: Virtual Walkthrough /  by Crystal Pearl

For those of you, like myself, who haven’t been able to visit NY thanks to Corona-the-Virus, here is a guided tour with Dr. Nicole Fleetwood of the groundbreaking show, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. To view video, enter password welcomeps1

Marking Time in Miami: Incarcerated Girls and Women Artists /  by Crystal Pearl

I hope that you can join me this Friday as we discuss the experiences we had with the Women on the Rise! program working with incarcerated girls throughout South Florida. Hosted by the Bas Fisher Invitational.

13 years after their original exhibition at BFI, Crystal Pearl Molinary, Nereida García-Ferraz, Susan Lee Chun, and Jessica Gispert’s artwork is currently featured in the critically acclaimed exhibition Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration at the Museum of Modern Art PS1 in New York. Their work on view at MoMA is drawn from the 2007 BFI exhibition MOD 11: Discourses with Incarcerated Girls, that explored how their experiences of making art with girls incarcerated at the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Detention Center through the Women on the Rise! project impacted their practice.

Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration /  by Crystal Pearl

Installation view of Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. On view at MoMA PS1 September 17, 2020 to April 4, 2021. Image courtesy of MoMA PS1. Photo by Kris Graves.

Installation view of Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. On view at MoMA PS1 September 17, 2020 to April 4, 2021. Image courtesy of MoMA PS1. Photo by Kris Graves.

I’m deeply humbled and over the moon excited to announce that one of my pieces created in the collaborative, GisMo when working with the Women on the Rise! program will be included in the exhibition, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. This major exhibition explores the work of artists within US prisons and the centrality of incarceration to contemporary art and culture. Featuring art made by people in prisons and work by nonincarcerated artists concerned with state repression, erasure, and imprisonment.

The work I’ve done with incarcerated youth has had a deep impact on my artistic career and life in general, and there is no way to overstate how honored I am to be included in this exhibition. On view through April 2021… check it out if you can!

Aesthetics of Excess /  by Crystal Pearl

I can’t tell you how proud I am of my dear friend, Dr. Jillian Hernandez, for the publication of her book Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment. The book explores her observations and studies in working with Black and Latinx girls through the Women on the Rise! program she established… and that I am so honored to have been a part of. Incidentally, there’s a bit in there to check out about work by none other than me. Definitely a must read, and such a beautiful work of art in and of itself. My gratitude goes out to Jill for her support and for always finding a way to put the wild notions in my head and visual work into comprehensible words.

978-1-4780-1110-1_pr.jpg

Then Again in the NSU Permanent Collection /  by Crystal Pearl

I am very excited to announce that two pieces from the series Then Again have found a home in the Nova South Eastern University Art Museum Permanent Collection.   Both Habana Riviera and Piscina Riviera were acquired earlier this season by request of the Docents at the NSU Art Museum.     I am humbled to have Then Again amongst so many great works within this powerful and  robust collection.  

Keep an eye out for them at the next Permanent Collection exhibition! 

 

 

then again at art@work /  by Crystal Pearl

Habana Riviera, 2011 - Diptych in Artist Frame, 11" x 20.5" - edition of 5 + A/P

Habana Riviera, 2011 - Diptych in Artist Frame, 11" x 20.5" - edition of 5 + A/P

I am very excited to announce that my series, Then Again will be exhibited beginning August 31 at the Art@Work exhibition space in South Miami.  I'm also happy to share that the first edition of the suite of works has been acquired into the Mosquera Family Collection where it will live amongst the work of many talented artists from Miami and abroad.  
Hope you can join us on September 12 for tremenda fiesta to celebrate the exhibition!  

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ART@WORK PRESENTS

Then Again
A Solo Exhibition by Artist Crystal Pearl Molinary
On View August 31 through October 4, 2015

In Then Again, artist Crystal Pearl draws from personal narrative to engage the viewer in a series that alludes to nostalgia, personal connections and relationships.  By recreating images of her vedette mother from a pre-Castro 1960’s Cuba, she seeks out to personally connect to a distant part of her own history, while concurrently questioning the broader relationships between past and present, parent and child, beauty and identity, culture, separation and age.  

Crystal Pearl Molinary is a visual artist living and working in Miami, Florida. Her work draws from individual experiences to engage in an analysis of cultural practices of identity, nostalgia, heritage, femininity and beauty.  She holds a BFA in photography from Florida International University, and has exhibited internationally.

Her exhibitions include The Drawing Project at Florida International University, Miami, FL; Esthetic Theory at The Girls Club of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Metralla Sundays at the ArtCenter South Florida, Miami Beach, FL; The Food Show at the Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY; New Art as a Universal Language at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, FL; Ping-Pong in Art Basel, Switzerland; Mod 11 at the Bas Fischer Invitational, Miami, FL; Landmarks at the New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ; and Miami Moments at the Miami Dade Public Library, Miami, FL amongst others.


Molinary was selected to participate in the 2015 Cultural Arts Incubator Residency and has lectured at various institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami and New Jersey City University.  Her work is included in the following public collections The Girls Club Collection in Ft. Lauderdale, The Hebrew Home Collection in New York and The Mosquera Collection in Miami.  You will also find her work in many private prominent collections.

The opening night reception for Then Again is on Saturday, September 12, 2015  7 – 9 pm and is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view from August 31 through October 4, 2015 weekdays from 11 am to 5 pm, by appointment. 

 Art@Work is located at:  1245 Galloway Road (87th Avenue), Miami, FL 33174.

Free parking is available across the street at the Central Bible Assembly of God on opening night. 
 

Venue:                                     Art@Work Gallery
On view:                                  August 31 through October 4, 2015
Event name:                           "Then Again"
Event contact:                         Raissa Soler
Event time:                              weekdays 11 am to 5 pm by appointment
Event email:                            artatwork@bellsouth.net 
Event cost:                              $0.00
Event venue address:             1245 SW 87th Avenue, Miami, FL 33174
Event phone:                           305-264-3355