The New Guard: Mera Rubell

Mera Rubell

Owner, Capitol Skyline Hotel

For someone chiefly based in Miami, Mera Rubell has a hefty influence over DC’s contemporary-art scene. The collector and owner of the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Southwest is one of the forces behind the (e)merge art fair, which returned to the Skyline for its second year in 2012.

Rubell’s collection of work by African-Americans was showcased in the Corcoran’s “30 Americans” exhibit two years ago, and she plans to develop a new contemporary-art museum similar to Miami’s Rubell Family Collection in the empty Randall School building on I Street, Southwest, bringing even more culture to the neighborhood.