The art behind the PAMM controversy

TRD-Miami

A rendering of MAM’s new building

In the last show before the move, artwork that Miami real estate developer Jorge Perez donated to the Miami Art Museum is on display at the museum’s old building, at the Miami-Dade Cultural Center, Curbed reported. The show will run until June 2.

After a $40 million donation of cash and art from Perez, the new Miami Art Museum, currently under construction along Biscayne Bay in downtown’s Bicentennial Park, will be renamed the Jorge Perez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County, or PAMM, as previously reported.

But the name change has proven to be controversial with some congratulating the museum and Perez on the latter’s generosity, while others believe the naming gives undue credit to one person. Critics point out that the new museum is being built largely with public money approved by Miami-Dade voters in 2004, according to previous reports from the Miami Herald.

Perez’s donation comes on the back of a promise made by museum trustees to raise $120 million in private funds, including $31 million to offset construction costs. However, public money will pay for $100 million in construction, and MAM currently relies on about $2 million a year in public funds for operational costs, according to the Miami Herald. [Curbed]–Sanna Chu