The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the new contemporary art museum located in the developing Museum Park in Miami opened last year and (at last) provides Miami with an international quality museum setting for its own collection of contemporary art, for international art projects and galleries in which to house international loan exhibitions, such as the exhibition on contemporary Caribbean art which is running at the moment.  The old building was long past its best and, to Miami’s credit, the city employed Herzog & de Meuron, the architects of Tate Modern, (both the Bankside conversion and the new extension). Some of the robust details such as the timber floors used in Tate Modern have been repeated in this building.

Alongside, and currently under construction, is the new $275 million Patricia Frost Museum of Science due to be complete in 2015 and designed by London-based Grimshaw Architects.

A good location on the bay, a great building and an interesting and relevant art collection means that, since the building opened, it has received record attendance with over 150,000 visitors in its first four months against an annual target of over 200,000 visitors in its first year and compared to an average of about 60,000 visitors annually at its old location.  The permanent collection is particularly strong in Latin American artists, but the Museum uses its Project Spaces to bring installations and video from international artists, currently Monika Sosnowska from Poland, Yael Bartana from Israel, Simon Starling from Copenhagen and Hew Locke from London.

To add to the interest, on my visit there was a fire evacuation.  It is slightly worrying that only one fire engine attended.  I hope this is because the security staff inside had already carried out a first inspection and therefore there was thought to be little risk.