ArtCenter/South Florida (a Knight Arts grantee) made it official that it is embarking on a new journey with the appointment of Maria del Valle as executive director, starting off the Year of the Dragon with a roar. Del Valle is being brought back from Madrid (her hometown), where she had gone to work after departing Miami’s Spanish Cultural Center, or Centro Cultural Español (CCE).

Her tenure there is what bodes well for the ArtCenter. The CCE morphed into one of our best cultural spaces under the direction of Guillermo Basso back in the early 2000s. It transformed from a staid Coral Gables outlet (and a diplomatic arm of Spain) to an exciting cauldron of art and music from Iberia and Latin America (a cross-Atlantic relationship that has often been strained, from Colonial residue to a difficult political 20th-century). Del Valle followed suit when she took the helm, bringing in cutting-edge artists and new ways of thinking about the interaction of all the Latin elements of disparate Miami. That should be a fresh mindset to jumpstart the Lincoln Road mainstay, founded in 1984 and incorporating studio and exhibition spaces. “I’m interested in the non-profit sector because it allows us to focus on factors aside from economic gain, including community advancement through arts and culture, professional and career development for the artists and the overall impact in the life of citizens,” says Del Valle.

Up now at the Center: “Potential Amendments,” a three-person exhibit featuring paintings and sculpture from Jenny Brillhart, Vincent Hemphill and Moira Holohan with an interesting premise of artworks made around process, unplanned errors and reconstruction. What’s revealed are endless efforts at restructuring, relayering and re-conceptualizing in various media and with various results.

ArtCenter is one of the most accessible and pedestrian-friendly art spots in Miami, so it’s important that what it emits can help expand cultural horizons — in that sense it’s a position loaded with potential and responsibility. With her history, Del Valle should be up for the task.

“Potential Amendments” runs through Feb. 19 at ArtCenter/South Florida main gallery, 800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; www.artcentersf.org.