The Fine Arts Board was created by the City Commission in 1974 to "promote the work of contemporary visual and cultural artists, to enhance appreciation for the arts in the community at large, and to provide economic stimulation to underserved neighborhoods." Each Commissioner and the Mayor appoints two members to this fourteen-member board.

Since 1975 the Fine Arts Board's main activity has been the production of the annual Miami Beach Festival of the Arts, a two-day outdoor art exhibit and sale usually held on the second weekend in February. Since 2003 the Fine Arts Board has partnered with the non-profit North Beach Development Corporation in staging the Festival in the North Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach.