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Inside VISU Contemporary - A Conversation With Bruce Halpryn, Owner and Curator In this exclusive Miami Living interview, Bruce Halpryn, Owner and Curator of VISU Contemporary (visugallery.com) in Miami Beach, discusses how his relationship with art began long before the gallery opened its doors. Raised in the suburbs of New York, he grew up surrounded by theater, museums, galleries, photography, and a family culture that valued creativity. That early exposure shaped a lifelong engagement with art, first as a student of photography and glass, then as a collector, curator, and supporter of major cultural institutions. Today, Halpryn leads VISU Contemporary, a gallery focused on photography, lens-based art, and contemporary work that invites close looking and conversation. He is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist based between Miami and New York City, serving as CEO and Co-Founder of Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. His arts leadership extends well beyond the gallery. Halpryn has served as President of FotoFocus, sits on the board of Aperture, serves as Vice Chair of Miami City Ballet, and has contributed to Miami’s cultural development through the City of Miami Beach General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee. In this conversation with Miami Living, he discusses collecting, Miami’s evolving art scene, and what he hopes visitors discover at VISU Contemporary. Miami Living (ML): You have had a unique path as an entrepreneur, collector, curator, and arts supporter. Can you tell us a little about your personal story and how your connection to the arts first began? Bruce Halpryn: My connection to the arts began long before I ever considered opening a gallery or building a collection. I grew up in the suburbs of New York in a family that valued both creativity and intellectual curiosity. My mother attended New York’s High School of Performing Arts, and my father was an engineer with a deep passion for photography. As a family, we regularly traveled into the city to attend Broadway performances, visit museums and galleries, and explore the extraordinary cultural institutions that surrounded us. Those experiences shaped how I understood both art and the world. As a child, I was torn between becoming an artist and becoming a veterinarian. Ultimately, my professional path led me into medicine and entrepreneurship, but art never stopped being a central part of my life. In my twenties, while living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I immersed myself in photography and darkroom classes. Years later, after moving to Cincinnati, I began studying glassblowing and eventually traveled to learn additional art-glass techniques from accomplished practitioners.