MIAMI, FL – June 11, 2025 – Vizcaya Museum and Gardens invites the public to explore personal and collective storytelling through Binding Histories, a free, hands-on summer workshop series led by acclaimed Miami artists Nicole Combeau and Sean Sullivan. The program runs weekends from June 14 through July 13, 2025, and culminates in a community-driven animated installation on July 26, 2025.
Hosted in the historic Vizcaya Village Garage, Binding Histories offers four themed workshops: My Story, Family, Miami, and Coconut Grove. Participants will learn various bookbinding techniques—accordion folds, pamphlet stitch, anthotype printing, and Japanese stab-binding—while creating personalized, tactile narratives from archival imagery, maps, poetry, and more.
All sessions are FREE and open to all ages, with registration required. Workshops are designed to foster connection—between neighbors, between generations, and Miami itself. Each session builds toward a culminating artwork to be projected on the Main-House side of the estate on July 26, weaving together the visual stories shared throughout the summer.
“Collaborative artmaking workshops have become an integral part of what Vizcaya offers for the community in the summer,” said Maria Trujillo, Director of Community Partnerships, Programs & Interpretation at Vizcaya.
“While the medium changes every time—from music to bookmaking—two things are constant. These workshops are always cooperative and open to adults as well as children.”
WORKSHOP DATES | June 14-July 13
- June 14–15 | My Story
Create a handmade accordion-style book using collage and photo transfer to tell the story of where you’re from.
- June 21–22 | Miami
Explore Miami’s past and present through collaborative poetry and double-sided bookmaking techniques.
- June 28–29 | Family
Use plant-based photo printing and Japanese stab binding to preserve personal and family memories in book form.
- July 12–13 | Coconut Grove
Design and bind a drum leaf book that reflects on place, memory, and identity, rooted in the histories of Vizcaya and Coconut Grove.
THE INSTALLATION | July 26, 2025
The series culminates in a powerful animated installation on July 26, 2025—a vibrant celebration of Miami’s diverse cultural narratives.
TICKETS
For workshop dates, details, and registration, visit www.vizcaya.org/books.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Nicole Combeau is a Miami-based interdisciplinary artist and educator exploring memory and matrilineal heritage through photography and collaborative book arts.
Sean Sullivan, aka Sean Was Here, is a motion artist renowned for immersive projection mapping installations at The Bass Museum, The Ringling, and Burning Man.
ABOUT VIZCAYA MUSEUM AND GARDENS
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark in Miami, originally built between 1914 and 1922 as the winter estate of James Deering. Open as a public museum since 1953, this European-inspired estate welcomes 400,000 visitors annually and includes a Main House filled with decorative arts,10 acres of formal gardens, native forests, and mangrove shores.
On the west side of the property, the historic Vizcaya Village, which offers a Sunday farmers market and new Village Café, is being restored to support new community programs, including urban agriculture.
Located at 3251 South Miami Avenue (with the Village across the street at 3250 South Miami Avenue), Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is open daily, except Tuesdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For more information, visit www.vizcaya.org.
