The Retrofit

Emmy-award winning filmmaker and current Deering Estate McCormick Art Fellow Marlon Johnson presents The Retrofit, an interdisciplinary series inside the Deering Estate theatre. The Retrofit is a multimedia film and live performance series at the intersection of the arts, natural environment, and social justice. The Retrofit is a campaign to reimagine spaces and expressions while celebrating a shared foundation. Curated by Marlon Johnson, this series champions the transformative power of the arts through storytelling and invites audiences along for the ride.

The Retrofit on Sunday, February 23, 2025 will include orature by Dr. Keshia Abraham and the screening of Johnson’s Homecoming (2025). The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and invited guests.

The event will take place indoors inside the Deering Estate theatre. The show starts at 5:00 p.m. Doors will open 15 minutes prior to start time. Cocktail hour will be outdoors with live music from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $20 per person (members and non-members). Recommended for ages 18+.
LOCATION: Deering Estate Visitor’s Center Theater. Please park in the Visitor Center parking lot located on the south side of SW 168 Street, east of Old Cutler Road & west of SW 72nd Avenue.

*Tickets online only*

Tickets are via Miami Dade County Park Link.  Create your account today by clicking here.
Questions? Contact Us or Plan Your Visit

About the film:
Homecoming
Runtime: 60 minutes

Homecoming is a compelling short film that shines a light on the Miami Workers Center, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering working-class tenants, workers, women, and families in Miami-Dade County. Through grassroots activism, leadership development, and community-driven campaigns, the organization fights for dignity, justice, and systemic change. This documentary captures the voices of those on the frontlines, showcasing their resilience and the collective struggle to transform workplaces and neighborhoods into spaces of equity and opportunity.

About the Artists and Panelists:
Marlon Johnson is a twelve-time Emmy award-winning producer and director. A native of Miami, Marlon earned bachelor’s degrees in both Anthropology and Communications with a special focus on Motion Pictures from the University of Miami. He has produced award-winning documentary films exploring music, social and cultural issues. In 2005 he was commissioned by the Florida Film Consortium to produce and direct Coconut Grove: A Sense of Place which examined race-based gentrification in the West Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, the historic home of the first Bahamian immigrants. In 2006, The Ford Foundation commissioned Marlon to direct the short documentary Breaking the Silence which chronicled the rise of HIV infection in the Black-American South. In 2010, he began producing for the John and James L. Knight Foundation where he co-directed the award-winning short Sunday’s Best, a film about the rich history of African-American women’s head adornments in church. In 2014, Marlon co-produced and directed a feature-length documentary entitled, Deep City: The Birth of the Miami Sound. In 2016, Marlon received the top prize from the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship for Visual Media Artist. In 2020, Marlon showcased two feature documentary films to audiences worldwide. The first feature documentary, Singular, was a concert documentary and love letter to the artistry of the multi-Grammy award-winning Jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, considered by most to be the greatest living Jazz vocalist. The second film, River City Drumbeat, produced by Owsley Brown Presents, is a contemplative portrait of the leader of a Pan-African drumline in Louisville who has dedicated his life to mentoring and saving the lives of youth in his neighborhood through arts and culture. More recently, Marlon was commissioned to direct a series short for Independent Lens/ITVS. The film entitled, Weight of the State, was part of an investigative series about the state of Kentucky’s controversial felony laws. Marlon Johnson is the Charles Deering McCormick Fellow of the Deering Estate’s artist-in-residence program. The fellowship is sponsored in part by the Deering Estate Foundation and the Charles Deering McCormick Friends of Art Fund.

Miriam King is a professional with 20 years combined experience in the Arts and Education fields. In 2020 King founded the E.V.E Consulting Firm. E.V.E (Empowerment Via Education) empowers WHO you are for WHAT you do. We believe in Eq over IQ and provide creative solutions and strategies to navigate you toward discovering your best self!

Dr. Keshia Abraham earned her BA in English (Women’s studies concentration) from Spelman College and her M.A and PhD in Comparative Literature from Binghamton University. This Fulbright Scholar has served as Dean of Arts and Sciences, tenured associate professor, Senior Director of International Education, and Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion. She is the recipient of the 2022 Peter A. Wollitzer Award and co-author of Black Victorians: Hidden From History with John Woolf. Her creativity is rooted in a curiosity and commitment to intercultural learning. She explores creative theorizing through the writing and performance of autobiography, short story, and essay while providing support to international educators.

Santra Denis: A South Florida native, Santra Denis is the Executive Director of the Miami Workers Center, a member-led organization organizing towards dignity, power, and self-determination with domestic workers, tenants, and families in Miami, FL.

Trained as a Public Health Professional, Ms. Denis graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Health Science and a Master of Public Health in Policy and Management from Florida International University. She has had the opportunity to work for the Catalyst Miami, Shands Healthcare, Care Resource, and Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Ms. Denis has developed her own leadership as an anti-classist and anti-racist community organizer and is committed to centering the leadership of Black and Immigrant working-class people. Ms. Denis has been very active in her community, founding Avanse Ansanm, an organization that engages, connects, and builds power among Haitian-American Millennials. She served as the Senior Vice-President for the Urban League of Broward County Young Professionals Network where she spearheaded the 1st Annual State of Young Black Broward Forum on health, criminal justice, and economics. She is a New Leaders Council Fellow, the premier leadership and professional development, training, mentoring, networking, and career and political advancement program for young professionals. Ms. Denis is a Sant La Fellow, a Haitian American Leadership program for young adults in Miami Dade County. She serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board at Florida International University Research Center in Minority Institutions. She also serves as a board member for Miami Dade County’s Office of New Americans and the Black Mothers Care Plan (BMCP) Advisory Board. Ms. Denis has been recognized for her commitment to social justice in South Florida by the Broward County Commission on the Status of Women as a Valiant Woman of the Vote; Ruth’s List Broward as a “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” Award Recipient; the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida as part of the Inaugural Class of Leaders for the esteemed award of “20 Under 40 Young Professionals” as well as “40 under 40” Leaders of Today, among others.
Ms. Denis is a lover of all people and her life’s mission is to dismantle systems of oppression for the liberation of all people.

Jeona Pinnock: Born and Raised in Miami Florida with Caribbean roots. Attended Coral Reef Senior High. Trained in all styles at Dance Empire Of Miami for 15 years. Closely worked with Jamar Roberts, Tawanna Hall, and more. Dance member with Peter London Global Dance Company since June 2024. Currently, a junior at New World School of the Arts College/UF working towards a Bachelors of Fine Arts.

About the Deering Estate
Deering Estate, located at 16701 SW 72 Ave. in Miami, is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. Deering Estate is designated as one of seven Miami Dade County “Heritage Parks” which have a vital role in our community’s history, environment and in providing recreational and cultural experiences.
Cultural Arts Programming at the Deering Estate is made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. Programming in the Deering Estate theater is also possible thanks to The Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation.

Cultural Arts Programming at the Deering Estate is made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc.

The McCormick Artist in Residence Fellowship is made possible with support of the Deering Estate Foundation’s McCormick Friends of Art fund.