Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), formerly known as the Miami Art Museum from 1996 until 2013, reopened at a new location on December 3, 2013. It is overlooking Biscayne Bay and provides a sculpture garden. We were lucky to be in town and visited it before it is even a month old !

Adjacent to it and currently under construction is the city’s Science museum. When it is completed, the whole park will become an area for science and arts education as well as spaces for cultural and relaxation programs.

The three-story building, built by Herzog de Meuron sits upon an elevated platform and below a canopy, both of which extend far beyond the Museum’s walls, creating a shaded veranda and plazas.

The canopy is perforated to allow in light, and lush vegetation grows out of suspended planters amongst the columns, transforming the veranda into a multi-dimensional garden. The architect has created a slide show showing off its building on their web site, here.

The museum is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The permanent collection galleries are located on the first and, principally, the second level, which  also house extensive temporary exhibition galleries.

The interior of the museum comprises a series of distinct galleries and other public areas connected by a series of interstitial spaces displaying the permanent collection, allowing for a fluid visitor experience.

It houses a collection of pieces from the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry – a comprehensive private archive of art that marries image and word. Something I have not seen anywhere before.

This is my favorite which consists of hundreds of pieces of dyed cloth placed in circles on the floor.

It had a small, rather open and flexible “auditorium” where visitors can sit on the steps and watch a performance or video.

Nice museum – not overwhelmingly huge, quite comfortable, a neutral atmosphere.