It’s become a cliché to point out that many of the private contemporary art collections of Miami are by and large bigger and better than any of the public institutions. In fact, they are some of the most prominent in the world.

When they are locked behind closed doors, that’s a shame. But a number of private collectors make their offerings accessible, even standing in as alternative museums. What’s most exciting about a visit to one of these spaces is the mixture of permanent works from some of the most important artists of the last half century with new, fresh output from lesser known names, and increasingly, from locals as well.

Such is the case with the De La Cruz Contemporary Art Space, Miami’s only free and regularly open privately run art collection. Opened in 2009 by Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz as an exhibition, lecture and residency outlet, this Design District museum makes an effort to highlight work from Miami artists on a monthly basis. But the latest exhibit it unveiled during Art Basel Miami Beach also showcases art from up-and-comers making news on the international scene, and it’s great to be able to encounter it here on the southern tip of the country.

Like the Rashid Johnson painting/sculpture on the second floor; it’s a stand out. This work, called Napalm, is made from red-oak wood flooring, black soap, wax and gold paint (a similar work is on the ground floor, as is one currently hanging at the Rubell Family Collection). These works include hieroglyphic-like symbols, scratched markings, and mysterious forms that reference ancient mythologies and, more ominously, branding such as that done to animals, and once upon a time, to slaves. Johnson, whose works are often steeped in Afro-centric imagery with a dash of humor, is hitting it big these days; big solo shows slated for Chicago, Los Angeles and London are coming up. And MAM is set to give him an exhibit later this year.

Johnson’s burnt offerings seem to have a strange connection to a somber piece that makes up one of the De la Cruz’s crown jewels: the expansive body of work from Ana Mendieta. The room on the third floor devoted to the Cuban-American female pioneer, who died in 1985, includes another burnt-wood work, this time of a human silhouette. Mendieta literally played with fire in her work and in her life, and like Johnson today, with myths and native symbolism. Although her pieces are on permanent display and not part of the new ones up at the De la Cruz, it is a crime to visit this space without at least glancing at her work.

In fact, the third floor is often the strongest draw here, and this time around it includes a great array of Gabriel Orozco’s work from the couple’s collection. There are dozens of the Mexican artist’s photos, the results of his wonderings around the globe, from Mali in Africa to the rural areas of his homeland, to urban crevices in New York City. It is the first time they have been exhibited all together.

In the middle of the room is a special treat: a ping pong table. One could conceivably play a game on it, except that there is a real, water-lily-filled pond in the middle. Above hang some light and lovely sculptures, Bamboo Balls, made of bamboo leaves and rubber balls.

Orozco’s connection to nature is echoed by another one of the de la Cruz’s stellar artists, also up on the third floor, Jim Hodges. Anyone who has visited the space should be familiar with his beautiful napkin flower drawing and fabric flower curtain. But take a good look at his painting of an orange tree, which suddenly becomes 3-D on closer inspection, with collaged leaves jumping off the surface. The every-day-object works of the much-mourned Felix Gonzalez-Torres also reside here, along with pieces from local artist Cesar Trasobares.