Pérez Art Museum Miami Buys Art from Local Galleries to Bolster Cultural Sector

The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) has added eight artworks by artists represented by Miami-based galleries to its permanent collection, the largest number of works purchased by PAMM’s Collectors Council in a single session. This round of acquisitions, which totaled $145,000, was part of the institution’s effort to give Miami’s arts ecosystem a boost amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As Miami’s flagship arts institution, PAMM must do what we can to shine a light on the city’s vibrant, multi-cultural community of artists and galleries who have been hit hard by the current crisis,” said museum director Franklin Sirmans. “Our Collectors Council, made up of prominent Miami-based collectors, has purchased an impactful selection of works—the most ever in its fifteen years of operation—which both supports the Miami arts community and bolsters our collection in a major way.”

The new works came from Central Fine Gallery, Emerson-Dorsch Gallery, Nina Johnson Gallery, PRIMARY, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Mindy Solomon Gallery, and Spinello Projects, and include Untitled/sumando lineas, 2019, a large assemblage sculpture by Yanira Collado; Untitled, 2020, an abstract geometric painting by Kelley Johnson; Exorcism, 1994–2019, a flag with elaborate beadwork by Myrlande Constant; and Infinite Regress LXXV, 2019, a large abstract work on canvas by Eamon Oré-Girón.

Commenting on the initiative, René Morales, PAMM’s chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, said: “It would be hard to overstate the importance of our local art galleries to Miami’s cultural and economic well-being. We hope this gesture will inspire others to support these spaces (and others) during this challenging time. We are all in this together.”