Pioneer Winter Collective Reveals 2026 GRASS STAINS Program at The Bass Museum

Pioneer Winter Collective has announced the sixth cycle of Grass Stains, its signature site-specific performance initiative supporting Miami artists working beyond traditional performance spaces.

The 2026 program will culminate in a public event on Thursday, May 21, developed in partnership with Commissioner, Miami's longest-running community-led art commissioning program, and Maven Leadership Collective, which cultivates queer and trans creative leaders of color and allies, at The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach.

PWC's Grass Stains pairs mentorship with creative process to support artists developing site-specific, site-adaptive, and public artworks that exist outside the boundaries of traditional performance venues or commissions. The program creates space for experimentation while encouraging artists to engage deeply with the histories, communities, and physical environments of Miami. The 2026 Grass Stains cohort includes Nina Osoria Ahmadi, Cecilia Benitez, Darryl Brown, Lisa Kusanagi, Arsimmer McCoy, Nicole Pedraza, and Hattie Mae Williams.

"Site-specific work allows artists to reclaim spaces of importance in Miami and highlight histories and cultural experiences that are unique to a location," says Pioneer Winter, Founder & Artistic Director of Pioneer Winter Collective. "Grass Stains creates a space where artists can investigate the relationship between body and place while engaging audiences in unexpected ways. We're honored to have NY-based artist Gabri Christa returning to mentor the cohort, bringing her depth of experience in site, screen, and live performance to our local artists. We are thrilled to partner with our friends, Commissioner and Maven Leadership, at The Bass for this special program. This is a first for Grass Stains."

"When The Bass Museum of Art invited Commissioner to curate public programming inspired by Isaac Julien's film, Vagabondia (2000), we were moved by how the artist challenged visibility and opacity in the institutional space," explained Dejha Carrington, co-founder of Commissioner. "In the film, a conservator imagines ghosts of the Sir John Soane museum's colonial past dancing in its galleries, prompting questions about hidden histories, performance, and collective memory. For so many reasons, we see Pioneer Winter Collective and Maven Leadership Collective as natural partners in this endeavor."

"Artists are vital to Miami's economy and social fabric. We owe it to them to mobilize community support for much-needed career-enhancing resources at critical moments in their professional practice," says Corey Davis, Maven Creative Director. "Maven's almost decade-long partnership with Pioneer Winter Collective and Commissioner is a more responsive creative ecosystem that places artist aspirations within reach."

The culminating performance on May 21 at 6pm, as part of Third Thursdays at The Bass is titled Searching for Collective Memory, and will comprise art tours and a panel conversation. Audiences, led by guides, will experience Grass Stains artists performing throughout the museum grounds, activating the site through movement and interdisciplinary performance.