"A stunner, the quiet hit of the week."
On December 2, 2024, during the most concentrated week of art market activity in the world, Open Invitational opened at Palm Court in the Miami Design District. Eleven progressive studios brought their artists and their work. Admission was free. No booth fees. No gatekeeping. Just exceptional work by artists who had never had a platform at this scale.
The fair was co-founded by David Fierman and Ross McCalla — a New York gallerist and a Miami-based arts patron who believed that the art world's appetite for authenticity and overlooked artists was real, and that the studios supporting artists with disabilities were the most overlooked source of that work anywhere.
artnet's Andrew Russeth called it "a stunner, the quiet hit of the week." The Miami Design District offered the space at no charge. The exhibitors paid nothing. And something that had never existed before — a dedicated national platform for artists with disabilities at the scale of Art Basel week — came into being.
Fair views
Open Invitational · Palm Court · Miami Design District · December 2, 2024 · Photography by Isaac Gil, worldredeye
Participating studios
Press
"A stunner, the quiet hit of the week."
"We had a beautiful space, and a lot of people came and saw it, the exhibitors had a real boost in visibility from it, and a lot of people sold a lot of work."
Visitors & VIPs
The inaugural edition of Open Invitational drew collectors, curators, and institutions from across the art world during Art Basel week. The Miami Design District offered the Palm Court space at no charge — a testament to the project's credibility from its first edition.
The fair's opening on December 2, 2024, was documented by photographer Isaac Gil for worldredeye, capturing the energy of an event that positioned disability art at the center of the most important art week in the world.
Open Invitational continues.
What began in Miami in December 2024 has grown into a national platform — New York, San Francisco, and Basel followed. The fair returns to Miami each December and expands to new cities each year.