Miami Dade leaders celebrate new recording studio
From David Volz
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami-Dade County District 2 Commissioner Marleine Bastien attended an event with Papa Keith from 103.5 The Beat and Guitars Over Guns, the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, and the Gwen Cherry Park Foundation, to inaugurate the Papa Keith Music & Media Studio, a brand-new recording studio at Miami-Dade County’s Gwen Cherry Park, 7090 NW 22nd Ave, Miami, FL 33147.
“I am thrilled that our Parks Department is opening such a unique feature that will offer music and media programming to this community” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “The Gwen Cherry recording studio is another example of how parks play an integral role in connecting our residents to the arts, culture, and opportunity. I am confident that this one-of-a-kind facility will quickly become an invaluable cultural resource for our community and especially our young people.”
The new state-of-the-art, 1,000-square-foot studio is located inside Gwen Cherry Park’s NFL Youth Education Town (NFL YET Center). The studio is equipped with industry standard technology for students to learn, create, and publish original music, podcasts, radio broadcasts, video content, and more. Participants will work with mentors from Guitars Over Guns, who are local, professional musicians. Guitars Over Guns currently offers free music education at 19 Miami-Dade County Public Schools, four public parks, and 10 additional community facilities. Mentors are trained in nationally benchmarked mentoring programs and positive youth development best practices to support participants holistically.
“Investing in parks and in local arts and culture is vital to the well-being of residents, and is instrumental to their social engagement with neighbors. The value that this brings is integral to making neighborhood living in District 2 stronger and more dynamic,” said Miami-Dade County District 2 Commissioner Marleine Bastien.
This new amenity will bring media and music programming to residents of the Gwen Cherry Park community, as well as provide residents with equitable access to public spaces for cultural expression. This studio will also host educational community engagement programs, as well as essential services like studio time and music production for future artists and students. In addition, the recording studio will also be used in partnership with other community organizations, such as Guitars over Guns, in creating a curriculum that will enable students to work side by side with professionals to learn skills specific to the studio environment.
“This project is an investment in our children,” said Miami-Dade Parks Director Maria Nardi. “It will provide a creative outlet and educational public space where they will not only play, but it also introduces technology and innovation through the use of music and media at our park.”
