Pérez Art Museum Miami facts for kids
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| Former name | Miami Art Museum |
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| Established | 1984 |
| Location | 1103 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Florida, United States 33132 Formerly at: 101 West Flagler Street |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 150,000 (2013-2014) |
| Public transit access | Museum Park station (Metromover), Metrorail via Metromover transfer at Government Center station |
The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is a cool art museum in Downtown Miami, Florida. It's officially called the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County. This museum focuses on contemporary art, which means art from recent times.
PAMM moved to a new building in 2013. This building is in Maurice A. Ferré Park (which used to be called Bicentennial Park). The museum was first started in 1984 as the Center for the Fine Arts. Later, it was known as the Miami Art Museum from 1996 until 2013. That's when it got its new name and new building.
The museum's collection has almost 2,000 artworks. These pieces are mostly from the 20th and 21st centuries. They come from places like the Americas, Western Europe, and Africa. Since opening its new building, PAMM has become very popular. Over 150,000 people visited in its first four months! You can easily get to the museum by taking the Metromover to the Museum Park station.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Museum Started
Back in 1972, people in Miami-Dade County voted to fund new art centers. This led to the creation of the Center for the Fine Arts. It opened in 1983 in the Miami-Dade Cultural Center. This building was designed by Philip Johnson.
The museum was located at 101 West Flagler Street. It was in the same area as HistoryMiami and the Miami-Dade Public Library. When it first opened, it mostly showed art from traveling exhibitions. The museum didn't start buying its own art until 1996. That's when it became the Miami Art Museum.
The New Building and Name
In November 2010, work began on a brand new building for the museum. This new building is in Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami. It was designed by famous Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. They wanted the building to look like Stiltsville. Stiltsville is a group of wooden houses built on stilts in Biscayne Bay.
The new museum building is huge, with lots of space inside and outside. It has big windows that let in natural light. There's also a grand staircase that connects the museum to the waterfront. The building is designed to handle hurricanes and floods. It also has special hanging gardens with many different plants. These gardens were designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The new PAMM building opened in December 2013.
To build this amazing new museum, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County worked together. The land was given by the City of Miami. The whole project cost $220 million. A big part of the money came from Miami-Dade voters. Private donors also gave a lot of money. Jorge M. Pérez, a long-time supporter of the museum, gave $35 million. Because of his generous gift, the museum was renamed the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County. The new museum was meant to make Museum Park a major cultural spot in Miami.
Amazing Architecture
The design of the new PAMM building by Herzog & de Meuron has received a lot of praise. Many people think it's really special. For example, the Wall Street Journal said the design could make the museum a popular destination. The New York Times called the design "spectacular." Even The Washington Post said that the new setting is as important as the art collection itself.
In 2015, the Pérez Art Museum Miami was recognized with an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). This shows how well the building and its surroundings are designed.
Art Collection
The museum shows many different kinds of art. You can see paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installation art, videos, and photography.
Pérez Art Museum Miami has been collecting art since 1996. It focuses on art from the 20th century and today. It also collects art from the "Atlantic Rim." This includes art from the Americas, Western Europe, and Africa. When the new building opened, the museum had 1,800 artworks. Almost 500 of these were bought in 2013. Some famous artists whose work is in the collection include John Baldessari, Olafur Eliasson, and Dan Flavin. You can also see works by Purvis Young, Joseph Cornell, Kehinde Wiley, and Frank Stella.
Many artworks in the museum's collection were donated by people. Jorge M. Pérez, for example, gave 110 works. These included pieces by Cuban painters like José Bedia Valdés and Wifredo Lam. He also donated art by Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Damian Ortega.
In 2012, Jorge M. Pérez also gave money to start a fund for buying African-American art. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation matched this donation. This fund helped the museum buy art from artists like Terry Adkins, Romare Bearden, and Faith Ringgold. In 2014, the museum started a program called the Ambassador of African American Art. This program lets people donate directly to the fund.
In 2013, museum trustee Craig Robins donated 102 artworks from his own collection. These included paintings, photographs, and sculptures.
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In 2016, Jorge M. Pérez made another big donation. He gave more art and pledged an extra $10 million. The museum used the first $5 million to buy contemporary Cuban art. The other $5 million went to the museum's long-term fund. This donation included over 200 pieces from Pérez's personal collection of contemporary Cuban art. Artists like Glexis Novoa and Hernan Bas are included. Because of this, PAMM now has one of the largest collections of contemporary Cuban art in America.
By 2017, Pérez had donated over 170 artworks in total. In 2019, Maria Bechily and Scott Hodes donated sixteen works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude to the museum. Also in 2019, the museum received a painting called New Hat by Kenny Rivero.
The museum also announced a special section at Frieze New York in 2019. It featured artists from Just Above Midtown (JAM), an important art gallery from the 1970s and 80s.
PAMM Online Resources
PAMMTV
In September 2023, Pérez Art Museum Miami launched PAMMTV. This is a free online streaming service. It offers videos and films by local and international artists. You can watch works from PAMM's collections, including artists like Sandra Ramos and Wangechi Mutu. It also features film festivals and special online exhibitions.
Heckscher Digital Portal
The Heckscher Digital Portal has many resources for students, teachers, and families. You can find downloads, guides, slideshows, and videos.
Learning Resources
The museum offers lesson plans for teachers. These plans use the museum's art collection to help students learn about modern and contemporary art. They follow Florida State Standards.
PAMM App Tour
The PAMM App Tour provides multimedia content. It also offers tours of the museum's exhibitions.
Museum Management and Visitors
Directors
- 2010–2015: Thom Collins
- 2015–present: Franklin Sirmans
How Many People Visit?
After the new building opened, over 150,000 people visited in the first four months. In its first year, 300,000 people came to the museum. Before the new building, the old Miami Art Museum usually had about 60,000 visitors each year. Aaron Podhurst is the chairman of the museum's board. Gregory C. Ferrero has been the president since 2017.
Museum Budget
When it was the Miami Art Museum, its yearly budget was about $6 million. After the new building opened and the museum was renamed, the budget grew to $16 million per year. This allowed the museum to hire more staff and curators. In 2013–14, Miami-Dade County provided $2.5 million of this budget.
In 2019, the museum received a $1 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This money supports the museum's new Caribbean Cultural Institute. This institute helps research and show art by artists from the Caribbean. In 2024, Kenneth C. Griffin donated $10 million to the museum. This money will help maintain the museum's collection. A gallery will also be named after him.
Special Projects
Inside|Out Program
In the summer of 2017, PAMM took part in the Inside/Out program for the second time. This program is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. During this three-month project, PAMM displayed copies of its artworks in different neighborhoods across Miami-Dade.
PAMM Student Pass
In March 2018, PAMM started the PAMM Student Pass. This was done with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). The pass lets all M-DCPS students from Pre-K to 12th grade enter the museum for free.
PAMM Library Pass
The PAMM Library Pass is a partnership with the Miami-Dade County Public Library. You can get free entrance passes to the museum from any Miami-Dade Public Library.
See also
In Spanish: Pérez Art Museum Miami para niños
