Pool,” “The Crossing” and “The Messenger.” It is an important historical exhibit for Miami, blue-chip all the way.

Opens Dec. 5, 2012 and runs through March 3, 2013 at MOCA, 770 NE 125th St., North Miami; 305-893-6211; moconom.org; admission, $5.

•  To Beauty: A Tribute to Mike Kelley

The art world lost a leading light last February, when Mike Kelley committed suicide. One of the major artists to emerge from California in the 1980s, along with other luminaries such as John Baldessari, Kelley might be best known for his strange, stuffed animals and woven works, collaboration with punk rock bands, room-size installations — and his troubled visions. His pieces can be seen in collections and museums in Miami. This fall, the Frost Art Museum at FIU will unveil one of the first rear-view mirror examinations of the artist’s career since his death, with work culled from various private collections. Yes, Kelley is now gone, but far from forgotten.

Opens Oct. 17, 2012 and runs through Feb. 24, 2013 at the FIU Frost Art Museum, 10975 SW 17th St., Miami; 305-348-2890; thefrost.fiu.edu; admission is free.

•  Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Prints and Objects

The museums have scheduled a number of international big-time, solo shows during this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach and the University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum is no exception, with more than 130 works from one of the most prominent and creative dynamic duos of all time. While they are known the world over for their massive public art works— usually involving cloth — Miami has a special connection, when the two wrapped entire land formations in pink for Surrounded Islands, Project for Biscayne Bay, in the early 1980s, from which documentary photographs will be on display. Although Jeanne-Claude died years ago, her public art spirit remains present in current projects, such as the controversial Colorado River installation, which includes 42 miles of fabric panels. Some things do not and should not die.

Opens Nov. 10, 2012 and runs through Jan. 13, 2013 at the Lowe Art Museum of the University of Miami, 1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables; 305-284-3535; www.miami.edu/lowe; general admission is $10.

anne tschida