I am a multidisciplinary artist. After receiving a BFA from Tulane University, I began a studio practice in the Dominican Republic.  In 1993, after 17 years there, I moved to Miami and now 2026 is a celebration of sorts…marking 50 years of art making.

My work has been presented in 30+ solo exhibitions, and hundreds of group shows, locally and internationally, in museums, non-profit institutions, media festivals, and private galleries. I have completed large-scale commissions for both public and private spaces and have also worked in graphic design, interior design, set design, and children’s book illustration.

Throughout my career, I have been passionately involved in community engagement, regularly expanding my practice out side the studio through volunteer and community projects. Teaching and mentoring young artists and older creatives, founding/directing an Artist-Run Space, and the latest project: Art & Company Podcast, where I host and produce live-recorded episodes. My mission is to document and elevate the stories and personal experiences of the people who represent our growing Miami Art Scene: our artists, curators, and people in the galleries, museums, and more. You can listen to their stories right here on this website, as well as Soundcloud and Apple podcasts.

My studio works focus on interventions with/in nature, on experiences of being connected to the world, and how we engage in conversations with nature. My process shifts between painting, assemblage, sculpture, installation, photography, and moving images to express a finished piece. The works celebrate both our connections and our contradictions, revealing the lush and fertile possibilities that exist in-between.

Simmons-Jiménez won, in 1992, one of the prizes of the XVIII Bienal Nacional de Artes Visuales with the first video-art installation ever realized in the Dominican Republic, "A couple of days in the life of Julie Ozama" (1992). . .  plays with her doubled alterity … and codifies a new vision of Nature’s performistic talents. Dr. Alanna Lockward “Towards a Utopian Archeology”

BIO

Alette Simmons-Jiménez (b. 1952, Madison, Wisconsin) received a BFA from Newcomb Memorial College of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1975). The artist began her studio practice in the Dominican Republic and is now based in Miami, Florida

The artist has exhibited extensively in museums, galleries, and media festivals internationally and has collaborated with designers and architects to install large-scale commissions in public and private spaces.  Her latest solo exhibition was presented with site specific works for Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Projects, Miami Beach (2024).

Other notable solo exhibits have been presented at the Miami International Airport Art in Public places Moving image Gallery (2023), Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach (2022); The Miami Design District, Space S|223 with curator Tiffany Chestler (2020); Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo (1997); Palm Beach ICA Media Room, curator Michael Rush (2001); Inter-American Development Bank Washington D.C., curator Susana Leval (2000); Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Projects, Miami Beach (2018); and the Frances Wolfson Gallery at Miami-Dade College (2001), among others.  Notable group shows have been at Centro León, Santiago, Dominican Republic (2024); 21C Hotel Museum, Louisville, KY (2015); US Dept. of State Art in Embassies Program Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & Tegucigalpa, Honduras (2015 & 1999); Boca Raton Museum of Art (2014); Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, (2012); Appleton Museum, Ocala, FL (2010); Casa de la Cultura-Valencia, Spain (2010); MOCA N. Miami (2001); Lowe Museum (2000); Mobile Museum of Art (1999); Musée du Luxembourg, Paris (1989); and numerous others.

Simmons-Jiménez is a recipient of a Miami Individual Artist Grant (2024 & 2023), a prestigious Knight Arts Challenge Grant (2008), a Miami-Dade Tourism Development Grant (2008), a Miami-Dade Community Grant (2008), a Florida State Artists Enhancement Grant (2006), a Florida Fellowship Grant & Honorable Mention (1998 & 1995). The artist has been cited as the first to exhibit video installation art in the Dominican Republic, and received a 1st Prize in Video at the Dominican XVIII Biennial (1992). She is listed among creatives forging the South Florida art community in the publicans “Miami Contemporary Artists” and “100+ Degrees In The Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art”.

The artist received an Oolite Arts Home & Away Grant, and attended the artist residency program at MASS MoCA (2024).  She was invited and attended Résidence D'Artiste Ifitry, Essaouira, Morocco (2019), and was awarded a grant to a seminar/residency at Es Baluard Museum of Contemporary Art, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2017).  

Simmons-Jiménez presented her latest solo show with site-specific works for Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Project, Miami Beach (2024). 

While the artist continues developing her practice she is also dedicated to community building. From 2004-2011, she founded/directed artist-run collective Artformz Alternative, exhibiting over 150 artists. Simmons-Jiménez also served on the BOD of ArtTable, Inc New York and held positions of FL Chapter Chair and Programming Director (2013-2016).  Currently the artist hosts and produces Art & Company Podcast, (2018 - present) gaining an international audience, while promoting and documenting the burgeoning South Florida art scene.

No Vacancy MURMURATION, City of Miami Beach 2023