THURSDAY, MARCH 19

From the Olympics to the World Cup: Mediating Sports Journalism and the Role fo the Artist on the World’s Stage
1–2:30pm

Sports media is evolving rapidly—as are the ways major sporting events shape both culture and coverage. While Miami prepares for the FIFA World Cup this summer, leading journalists, photographers, artists, and media-makers who immortalize what happens on the field will reflect on their practices, the spectacle of sports, and the power of sports storytelling today. 

Featuring Jake Troyli (Artist, Get in the Game), Hank Willis Thomas (Artist, Get in the Game), Carling Jackson (Olympic Artist), Isaiah Smalls (Founder, The 44 Percent; Reporter, The Miami Herald), and Franklin Sirmans (Sandra and Tony Tamer Director, PAMM).

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Sports and Society: Cultural Production in Sports
3–4:30pm

Moderator: Marie Vickles | Participants: Tabitha Soren, Lyndon J. Barrois Sr, Nora Halpern, and Summer Wheat

As global sporting events reshape cities, institutions, and cultural production, what role can art play? This conversation explores the platforms, commissions, and institutional initiatives connecting contemporary art and athletics, offering a look at how these collaborations take shape behind the scenes.

Featuring Tabitha Soren (Artist, Get in the Game), Lyndon J. Barrois Sr (Artist, Get in the Game), Nora Halpern (Executive Director, Cultural Olympiad, LA28), and Summer Wheat (Commissioned Artist, Kansas City Chiefs).

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Performance by Radmila Lolly
4:30-5pm

Make sure to catch a special performance by exhibition artist Radmila Lolly from 4:30 to 5pm in PAMM’s Vattikuti Learning Theater!

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Playing Field to Museum Gallery
5–6:30pm

As athletes shape culture on and off the field, how does their identity and influence extend into creative spaces? This conversation explores the evolving relationship between sports and contemporary art, considering how cultural leadership, patronage, and creative inspiration take hold across arenas and institutions.

Featuring Franklin Sirmans (Sandra and Tony Tamer Director, PAMM), Desmond Howard (Sportscaster; Former NFL Player; Super Bowl XXXI MVP; 1991 Heisman Trophy winner), and Dr. Damion L. Thomas (Supervisory Museum Curator of Professional Sports, Amateur Sports, and Leisure Activities, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History).

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Readings with O, Miami Poetry Festival
6–6:30pm

Introduction: Melody Santiago Cummings | Featuring: Hanif Abdurraqib

Presented in partnership with the O, Miami Poetry Festival, GAME TIME presents readings by nationally renowned poet, essayist, and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Hanif Abdurraqib, reciting from his book There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, and actor and producer Vincent Piazza, who will read excerpts from The Boxer by Gabriele Tinti.

On March 10, O, Miami and the Miami VIS for Poetics of the Play Call will present a poetry workshop followed by access to see the Miami Heat play the Washington Wizards. This project celebrates the linguistic skill, wit and performance of broadcasters and sports analysts. Each ticket  includes access to a courtside poetry workshop at the Kaseya Center and a ticket to see the Miami Heat play the Washington Wizards. Poems developed during this workshop will be handed over to the Heat broadcast team who will be challenged with integrating these community compositions into live broadcast during the month of April. More information and tickets can be found here. The project is presented by Najja Moon and Jaki Goldner. 

Film Screening: US Premiere of On the Line
7–9pm

Shot over the course of ten years, On the Line follows the careers of three professional fighters—Will “Power” Rosinsky, Danny “The Miracle Man” Jacobs, and Patrick “All” Day—as they strive to become world champions in one of the most unforgiving of all sports. Set against the gritty backdrop of New York City, with its fabled boxing history and culture, the film follows the trio from their early days as standouts on the amateur scene through the unrelenting climb up the professional ranks.

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GAME TIME Reception Featuring Hugh Miles
9–11pm

In celebration of GAME TIME, join PAMM for drinks and music on the museum’s waterfront terrace. Make sure to take advantage of Verde’s extended opening hours, and grab a meal until 9:30pm!

Born and raised in South Florida to Jamaican immigrants, Hugh A. Miles Il is a true multi-hyphenate. From playing Division I football at the University of Florida to working as a software engineer for Lyft in San Francisco to founding his own engineering firm, Miles’s multidisciplinary approach to his career is reflected in his music and art.

Blending genres from across the globe, and bringing people together from different cultures and backgrounds is not just Miles’s aim, it’s also a reflection of his upbringing and exposure to diversity, while growing up in the Miami melting pot. Since he started DJing during the pandemic, he’s played at some of the world’s hottest night clubs and most exclusive parties.

As the founding DJ of 2DegreesNYC, he was instrumental in creating the sound that established the brand’s identity. As a Soho Selector, Miles has played in front of tastemakers and global talent, headlining some of their most heavily attended events like Art Basel Miami Beach, F1 Race Weekend, and Miami Music Week. Miles’s unique combination of skills makes his blends and edits as technically precise as they are emotionally resonant.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 20

Art & Wrestling
11:30am–12:30pm

Professional wrestling blurs the lines between performance art, athletics, and camp. From wrestlers with artistic practices to exhibitions that capture the sport’s larger-than-life energy, this conversation explores the growing exchange between contemporary art and wrestling. Artists, wrestlers, and curators come together to reflect on creative life inside and outside the ring while previewing the upcoming exhibition House Show: Power, Spectacle, and Pro Wrestling at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg.

Featuring Lee Moriarty (Professional Wrestler; Artist, Get in the Game), Thekla Kaischauri (Professional Wrestler; Artist, House Show, MFA St. Petersburg), Shaun Leonardo (Artist, Get in the Game; Executive Director, Socrates Sculpture Park), and Adam Abdalla (Curator and Creative Director; Founder, Cultural Counsel and Orange Crush).

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Basketball: The Next World’s Game?
2–3:30pm

From neighborhood courts to the global stage, basketball has inspired creativity and shaped culture for decades. Join some of today’s leading cultural critics, poets, and artists as they reflect on the game’s influence and cultural footprint, following an introduction by Dejha Carrington (Co-Founder, Commissioner). Works in the Get in the Game exhibition, alongside projects that merge basketball with poetry, performance, and global expression, explore how its influence will continue to grow in the years ahead.

Featuring Hanif Abdurraqib (Poet; Cultural Critic), Felandus Thames (Artist, Get in the Game), Alexandre Arrechea (Artist, Get in the Game), Najja Moon (Artist; General Manager and Co-founder, The Miami VIS), and Kelefa Sanneh (Staff Writer, The New Yorker).

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Boxing
4-5pm

Introduction: Alexandra Cunningham Cameron Participants: Paul Farber, Francesco Saviano, Cheryl Pope, and Travis Vogan with actor and producer Vincent Piazza, who will read excerpts from The Boxer by Gabriele Tinti.

GAME TIME wraps up with a knockout look at boxing in contemporary art and on the screen, with an introduction by Alexandra Cunningham Cameron (Curator of Contemporary Design, Hintz Secretarial Scholar, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum) reading an excerpt from Joyce Carol Oates’ On Boxing. Curators, artists, and cultural critics explore the sport’s visual language, narrative power, and its continued impact in both film and television. 

Featuring Paul Farber (Director and Co-Founder, Monument Lab; Curator, Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, Philadelphia Art Museum), Francesco Saviano (Director, On the Line), Cheryl Pope (Artist, Get in the Game), and Travis Vogan (Author, The Boxing Film: A Cultural and Transmedia History and LeRoy Neiman: The Life of America’s Most Beloved and Belittled Artist).

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Sunset Flip Exhibition Reception
7–9pm | Miami Design District (140 NE 39th Street, Suite 203)

Celebrate the opening of Sunset Flip, an exhibition curated by Adam Abdalla in partnership with Nina Johnson featuring professional wrestlers and artists Lee Moriarty and Thekla Kaischauri in the Miami Design District. On view from March 19–29, Sunset Flip features eight works, including three never-before-seen tennis paintings by Moriarty on the occasion of the Miami Open, and precedes the upcoming group exhibition House Show: Power, Spectacle, and Pro Wrestling at MFA St. Petersburg, also co-curated by Abdalla. To RSVP, email gametime@culturalcounsel.com.