The Vasari Project

From Ephemeral to Enduring

The Vasari Project, founded in 2000 by the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Art Services and Exhibitions Department, is a collection of printed materials and items of ephemera that document the history of art in Miami. For its 40th anniversary installment, The Vasari Project presents From Ephemeral to Enduring: Stories and Histories through Scrapbooks, Notebooks, Journal Books and More.

Curated by The Miami-Dade Public Library System and co-funded by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs,  The Vasari Project, preserves any materials – from press releases to an art review clipping – that relate to, document, or suggest that visual art was a key factor in Miami’s social and economic foundations and growth. The archive documents the history of art in Miami from 1945 to the present. As a part of their programming, the Miami-Dade Public Library offers free year-round public programs, exhibitions, performances, lectures, panel discussions, art projects and holds an International collection of over 2,200 works of art including photographs, artists’ books, and small sculpture.

 40th Anniversary Exhibition Installment

Artist scrapbook by Fred Albert, 1957-1971

On November 4th, The Vasari Project unveils From Ephemeral to Enduring: Stories and Histories through Scrapbooks, Notebooks, Journal Books and More. This exhibition is the last installment of an exhibition series that celebrates the Miami-Dade Public Library’s 40th Anniversary and will run through January 5th, 2012.

From Ephemeral to Enduring will explore the ways in which people have collected, documented, and preserved experiences, memories, and events.Through scrapbooks, travel journals, notebooks and diaries, these compilations of records and memorabilia – sometimes considered as leisure pursuits – provide the viewer with an amalgamation of visually engaging accounts that are of personal, historical, cultural or social significance. Components of the exhibition will look at the cultural phenomenon for the need to protect, document, and mostly preserve our past and investigates the different ways in which we have translated and converted paper, photographs, newspaper clippings and other ephemeral materials into albums and books that preserve memories.


Main Library, 1st and 2nd floor exhibition space – 101 W. Flagler St. – 305.375.2665 The Vasari Project accepts a broad range of materials, from printed ephemera to digital information and images. Contact [email protected]  to donate, send, or view materials.