The Pérez Art Museum in Miami, known as PAMM, is Miami’s contemporary art museum. It has been located in Downtown Miami in Museum Park since 2013, in a fabulous location with breathtaking views of Miami Beach. The building that houses the museum is a work of art in itself: stained glass windows, columns, and hanging plants that help make the place spectacular.
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Perez Art Museum Directions
PAMM is located at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, on the east side of Museum Park, between the Frost Science Museum and Biscayne Bay. The best way to get to PAMM by public transportation is to use the Metromover. Take the Omni Loop to the Museum Park station. The Biscayne Trolley, on the other hand, is the free bus line to the Pérez Museum. The stop is called Museum Park.
If you are coming from outside Miami by train, get off at the Miami Central Brightline station and take the Omni Loop to Museum Park (the 10th stop) or, if you prefer, take a 15-minute walk to PAMM.
Even if you have a car, I recommend getting to PAMM by public transportation. In fact, parking at the museum (which also has a limited number of spaces) costs $8 for the first hour and $4 thereafter up to a maximum of $40 per day.
Perez Art Museum: Tickets and Hours of Operation
The museum is open:
- Monday: 11 am to 6 pm
- Tuesday-Wednesday: Closed
- Thursday: 11 am to 9 pm
- Friday-Sunday: 11 am to 6 pm
Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for children between the ages of 7 and 18, students with ID, and those over the age of 62. Children under 6 are free. On the second Saturday of the month, the Pérez Art Museum is free for the entire day, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum offers tours daily, included with the price of admission:
- Thursdays – 11 am (Black Art Tour), 12 pm, 5 pm, 6 pm (Pride Tour)
- Fridays – 1 pm, 2 pm
- Saturdays – 12 pm (Black Art Tour), 1 pm (in Spanish), 2 pm, 3 pm (Pride Tour)
- Sundays – 1 pm, 2 pm
- Mondays – 1 pm, 2 pm
If you have purchased or are planning to purchase one of Miami’s passes, it may be helpful to know that the PAMM is included in the Go Miami All-Inclusive Pass and also in the Go Miami Build Your Own Pass.
A bit of history
In 1984, the Center of Fine Arts was founded and housed in a complex of buildings reminiscent of the Mexican architectural style at 101 West Flagler Street, near HistoryMiami and the Miami Dade Public Library. In 1996, the Center of Fine Arts officially became MAM, Miami Art Museum, acquiring several important artworks and collections and specializing in contemporary art. In 2013, MAM moved to Museum Park in Downtown Miami, where work had begun in 2010.
The new location designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron is reminiscent of Stiltsville, some wooden houses built on stilts in Biscayne Bay. The particular plants that descend from the ceiling are, instead, an idea of the French botanist Patrick Blanc. The construction of the new headquarters cost 220 million dollars, 100 million of which were funded by the municipality of Miami Dade and 120 by private donors. Among them, the Argentine-born billionaire living in Miami, Jorge M. Pérez, donated $35 million, which is why the museum now bears his name: PAMM, Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Perez Art Museum Collections and Architecture
The building that houses the PAMM is three stories totaling nearly 62,000 square feet, over 23,000 of which are located outside. The structure rests on a raised platform and is covered by a curtain that extends beyond the museum’s walls, creating a veranda and several outdoor terraces. Herzog & de Meuron architects collaborated with landscape architects to “bring the park into the museum” in innovative and surprising ways.
Galleries for the permanent collections are located on the first and second floors. The second floor also hosts temporary exhibitions, with large windows allowing natural light to enter the building and views of the park and bay. The outdoor veranda is adorned with tropical plants, with columns creating a multidimensional space. Inside the museum there is also a restaurant and bar whose name cannot help but make you think of nature: Verde, which means green in Spanish. The restaurant can be booked even if you don’t visit the museum and could be an opportunity to admire the structure and the view since it overlooks the bay.
As part of the permanent exhibitions you can admire the Sculpture Garden installations in the garden, the works offered by donors and sponsors of The Gift of Art, the colorful hanging boats of Hew Locke. There are numerous temporary exhibitions by international artists and the museum is famous for its many events such as concerts and events related to national holidays such as Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and the Fourth of July. Not only that, throughout the year the museum offers special programs for schools, mothers or fathers with babies from 0 to 18 months, for children between 3 and 5 years old and for teenagers in order to bring people of all ages closer to art and creativity.
Where to Stay
If you want to find accommodation in the area please read our article about where to stay in Miami where you can find an overview of hotels in Downtown Miami and surrounding areas.
