At the intersection of heritage and horizon, The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach offers more than just a luxury oceanfront stay—it offers perspective. This National Photography Day, August 19, 2025, the storied Art Deco resort continues its legacy as a cultural catalyst with a trio of compelling photography exhibitions, curated by Principal Curator and co-owner Lesley Goldwasser.
A pioneer in integrating art, literature, and music into the hospitality experience, The Betsy has become a beacon for visual storytelling. Throughout its 130-room property, photography takes center stage in thoughtfully curated public spaces—hallways, stairwells, even elevators—where stories unfold in frames rather than paragraphs. This year’s featured artists deliver poignant visual essays on community, conservation, and collective memory, anchoring The Betsy’s role as Miami’s premier literary and arts hotel.
In Piano Beach, The Betsy invites guests into the world of Miami Beach during the ’70s and ’80s, as seen through the lens of native photographer Andy Sweet. Known for his pioneering work in color photography, Sweet documented a vibrant senior community—largely composed of Jewish immigrants and Holocaust survivors—with warmth and immediacy. His images reveal a delicate yet determined slice of Miami’s cultural fabric, before the high-rises and nightlife took over the shoreline. The series captures an emotional rhythm: playful afternoons on the boardwalk, stoops filled with laughter, and moments of quiet resilience—all rendered in the saturated tones of nostalgia.
A floor away, The Gallery holds a different kind of immersion. Here, environmental photographer Mac Stone chronicles the ecological complexity of America’s wetlands—particularly Florida’s Everglades—with unflinching intimacy. His images serve as both artistic compositions and urgent calls to action. Through Stone’s lens, gnarled cypress roots, elusive panthers, and flooded prairies become subjects of reverence rather than disregard. The exhibit invites viewers to reconsider how ecosystems traditionally seen as “inhospitable” are, in fact, teeming with life, mystery, and value—if only we look closer.
Adding a digital dimension to the hotel’s analog heart is Cuban-American filmmaker and visual artist Juan Carlos Zaldivar. His work, displayed throughout The Betsy’s communal corridors, is a meditation on the instability of memory and the illusions of permanence. Zaldivar approaches the moving image as a metaphor for the human condition—both are fragile, aging constructs often mistaken for fact. His pieces examine the parallels between mechanical image-making and biological deterioration, as well as the anxiety surrounding what will be remembered and what may be lost. It’s a timely contemplation, especially in an era when the preservation of cultures, species, and personal identities feels increasingly precarious.
Unlike traditional museums, The Betsy blurs the line between viewer and subject, placing these powerful visual narratives in the everyday flow of hotel life. Guests checking in, heading to dinner, or lounging in the lobby become accidental curators of their own experience, guided by a hotel that prizes culture as much as comfort.
As National Photography Day prompts reflection on the art of visual storytelling, The Betsy offers something more enduring: a space where the past is preserved, the present is questioned, and the future is constantly reframed. It’s a fitting tribute to a medium—and a place—that understands the power of perspective.