Jennifer Rubell

Jennifer Rubell is South Beach's Princess Diana. Known for her quick intelligence, personal style and alluring charm, she is the daughter of Don Rubell, the older brother of Studio 54 co-founder Steve Rubell. In celebrity-obsessed South Beach, the Rubell name certainly equates to royalty.

Jennifer migrated to Miami in 1995 after earning an art history degree from Harvard. Since then, she has taken on day-to-day responsibility for running the family's boutique hotels—the Albion and Greenview on South Beach and Beach House Bal Harbour in Surfside. The Rubells also own the landmark Sony Building on Lincoln Road and a downtown-Miami-based modern art collection that is among the most important in the country.

Jennifer Rubell, whose reigning passions are culture and the cultural arts, recently spoke to South Beach Magazine about her views on the ever-changing Miami landscape.

What would you say is the current state of affairs in South Beach as a result of September 11?
I think there was a period of about two months where Sept 11 had a major impact. After that, I'd say it had no impact at all. So, I don't think Sept 11 had a major and permanent impact on the Beach - in the travel business.

So how do you see the evolution of South Beach at this point?
I think the Beach is at a sort of mid-career point, it's in the middle of its life, which means it's in an interesting transitional moment. It was a place that a few very cool people discovered and then a lot of people came and felt the things that the modeling and fashion industries initially enjoyed about it. And then, an infrastructure developed where it became a blue-chip destination for a lot of Americans looking for certain qualities in their vacation destination, like sunshine combined with great restaurants and nightclubs. 

What is it now?
Now, it's in a period where it's sort of searching its soul for a new identity. It's still on the edge and it still attracts all kinds of people. But I think it's evolving. I think that Neisen Kasdin really took the Beach from a kind of tourism "no-go" stop to a tourism mecca and I think he should be credited fundamentally with doing that. And now there's a new mayor with a new set of tasks in front of him, and he's really taken it on and I'm impressed by that.

Why is that important?
I think South Beach is in a moment where it needs a kind of restructuring that only the government can provide. The government has to look at the industries, particularly [film, TV and photo-fashion] production, that made South Beach and make sure that South Beach is still the perfect home for them. We have to make sure that South Beach remains a center for film, TV and photo-fashion production. 

Print production work was the core of The Albion's business from the day it opened/ What has happened to that business since all the work and all the models went to South Africa last season?
I feel like the Albion is almost the last hub of print production on the Beach. We still get a lot of it. Ford Models is in our building, which helps a lot. We have castings in our lobby. And if you want to roll your wardrobe racks through our lobby, that's fine with us. We actually think that other guests coming to visit get all excited about that kind of stuff. So, we support that business. On the governmental level, that's the kind of attitude we need to have. For a long time, we were the only game in town. Now, we have a lot of competition and we have to react accordingly.

How much of an impact do you think the loss of a lot of the photo-fashion and modeling industries has had on the culture of the Beach, on the scene here?
I'm really focused now on culture with a capital C, meaning cultural tourism. I'm chairing a task force with George Neary of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. That's really about creating programming that makes Greater Miami, not just Miami Beach, a draw for a certain kind of traveler. The modeling industry, to me, should be one component of the culture of Miami. But I don't think it ever was and I don't think it should be the main draw for Miami Beach.

Why is the Art Basel event this December, the U.S. debut of one of the most prestigious art events in the world, going to be so important to Miami Beach?
That is the kind of event that is going to come to Miami more and more in the future. And the great thing about it is that unlike the modeling industry, where you're walking down the street and watching someone else participating in a photo shoot, you're actually participating yourself when you come to an event like Art Basel and you're an integral part of it. So, I think the influence of cultural activity here is growing and that it's good for Miami.

Is there any chance these cultural activities will replace nightlife in Miami Beach?
No, I think nightlife is an important part of it. I don't know a single artist who doesn't go to nightclubs. I think the two things are linked. Miami has a culture and I think its culture is amazing. I got here seven years ago, and I'd say it took me five years to really discover Miami. I refuse to see Miami Beach as a separate city. It's part of Miami the same way Brooklyn is an interesting part of the New York metropolis. I see Miami as a metropolis.

If you think of it as a single metropolis, then what was it that so appealed to you seven years ago?
What was interesting to me then and what is interesting to me now is the cultural mix. That is Miami. It's an abstract of a lot of people from the Caribbean and Latin America. You have the cultures of Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil. Miami is the capital of Latin America.

How does the cultural mix affect tourism?
I find myself, based on the guidance guests give me about what they're interested in, taking them to South Beach, but also taking them to Little Havana and Little Haiti, then taking them up the Miami River and then to Rascal House for breakfast or lunch. That's what people want. That's the experience they come here for.

But isn't Miami Beach still the epicenter of everything?
I think a lot of the mature cultural events are in Miami Beach. Art Basel is coming to Miami Beach. You're going to have a lot of fantastic shows and concerts at the Jackie Gleason Theatre and it's located on Miami Beach. You're going to have fantastic performances by New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet on Miami Beach. But the cutting-edge, interesting little alternative theatre group or the independent museum or gallery, or the artist space or the really cool event that has a great mix of Haitian and Cuban culture, is probably going to be elsewhere.

If the planned $250 million Performing Arts Center is actually built in downtown Miami, how much of an impact do you think it will have?
It'll have tremendous impact. Its location is fabulous, because it's literally a bridge between Miami Beach and the rest of Miami. That is just tremendous.

Do you think it will actually be built and will succeed?
I'm not a fortuneteller. That will depend on a lot of factors that are beyond my control.

What else can be done to encourage the growth of culture in Miami?
I think screenwriters should be encouraged to write scripts that take place in Miami. And I think we should start right here at home. Florida International University, which has its main campus here, has one of the strongest screenwriting programs in the nation. I'd really like to see us encourage those students to stay in Miami and to write about Miami, to sell their scripts and then have their movies made in Miami. I think that's the way to promote Miami in the film production business.

Why do you think fewer celebrities are coming?
I really don't care about celebrities at all... (laughs)... That said, I don't think that any city should base its identity on celebrities. New York is bigger than any celebrity. Miami should base its self-esteem on what Miami is, not who comes here. Miami is much cooler than any person, including a celebrity. And honestly, I'd rather see a great new artist coming to Miami that a celebrity. That's much more important to our future.

What do you think is the biggest challenge Miami faces in the future?
I think that maintaining the courage to have self-esteem is really the biggest challenge, meaning that you can confidently say that what I am is great, what I am is special, and I'm not going to try to be something that I'm not - I think that's a big challenge. South Beach has always been pretty damn special. It was pretty damn special when the Marielitoes were in South Beach and it was special when the little old people were sitting on their porches. And it's always going to be special.