On December 2^nd, Pine Crest students participating in AP art classes were granted the opportunity to travel down to Miami for the school day and visit three different art museums, the most prominent being Art Basal of Miami Beach. Students who participated ranged from 11^th grade and 12^th grade, all of whom where in an art related AP class such as Art History AP and Studio Art AP. Eighty-two students in total attended, with Social Science Department head Susan Ledbetter and Visual Arts Department head Barbara Smith as sponsors.

Before travelling to the Art Basal exhibit, students visited other exhibits including WAREhOUSE and the Del La Cruz Collection. Both exhibits are run by donor families who act as patrons for artists and allow select artist display their work in their galleries. Both exhibits contain modern art, which ranges from paintings to sculptures, to recorded videos, even.  The WAREhOUSE collection, operated and funded by Martin Z.  Margulies and his foundation, provides financial support for up-and-coming artist by using ticket purchases to help sponsor their works. The De La Cruz Contemporary Art Space functions in a similar way while providing educational programs for young aspiring artists and workshops for artists to work in.

After viewing both exhibits, students arrived at Art Basal, a massive showcase of more than 2,000 artists from 200 galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. This year, Art Basal celebrated its 10^th anniversary (or edition). The theme of Art Basal is different forms of art, although the most featured category of art is that from the modern era. Modern art usually consists of abstract designs, either painting, sculpture, videos and/or photographs.

Pine Crest students were excited for this trip and almost all agree that it is worthy of a repeat next year or even again this year. This trip allows Pine Crest students to experience art on a new level and feel as though
they are looking at the future art history.