Miami’s gallery scene is just starting to bubble. PAMM’s new purchases will help
Perez Art Museum Miami’s Collectors Council usually makes its twice-year purchases from galleries scattered across the globe. This year, the group decided to go local.
Friday, PAMM announced the purchase of eight new works from seven Miami galleries. It was the Collectors’ Council’s largest purchase ever, with a pricetag of $145,000. The money comes from private donations.
“This time of need is also a , time of need for our artists,” said museum director Franklin Sirmans. “As a museum, we’ve had to make tough choices,” he said, referring to previously announced furloughs, layoffs and salary reductions. Still, the museum ask, “What could we do to be part of some kind of relief effort for our artists and our local art economy?”
The answer: Make this year’s acquisitions solely from Miami galleries.
“It would be hard to overstate the importance of our local art galleries to Miami’s cultural and economic well-being,” said René Morales, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Chief Curator via a release. “We hope this gesture will inspire others to support these spaces (and others) during this challenging time.”
Works purchased came from Central Fine Gallery, Emerson-Dorsch Gallery, Nina Johnson Gallery, PRIMARY, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Mindy Solomon Gallery and Spinello Projects.
The museum’s curatorial team presented works to the Collectors Council through virtual meetings. The group decided to purchase more than the allocated $105,000 would cover; members stepped up with additional $40,000 above the regular membership fee of $10,000 annually.
“It was amazing,” said Sirmans. “Not only was it really great art that we wanted on an individual basis, it also fit so squarely in our mission,” of reflecting Miami’s diversity and geographic nexus of the Americas. Artists whose works were chosen come from Haiti, Ghana, the Dominican Republic and Miami, among others.
The works were purchased were:
▪ A massive 2019 multimedia assemblage, “Untitled / sumando lineas,” by Miami-based artist Yanira Collado addressing cultural memory
▪ An adorned flag, “exorcism,” 15 years in the making, by Haitian Myrlande Constant, who blends Haitian Voudou traditions with contemporary themes
▪ “Eros, Allegory of Love,” a 2019 painting by Ghana-born Conrad Egyir from a series inspired by the Greek god of love
▪ “Fet Chaloska,” a painting by by Haitian Viktor El-Saieh exploring the sinister Haitian carnival figure Chaloska
2020 sculpture “Can I Borrow a Cup of Sugar (2020),” by Dominican New Yorker Lucia Hierro, focusing on sugar’s role in politics and economics
▪ “Untitled,” a 2020 painting by Miami abstract artist Kelley Johnson
A 2019 painting, “Infinite Regress LXXV” by New York - Los Angeles artist Eamon Oré-Girón, whose work evokes modernist design and indigenous Mesoamerican indigenous cultures
▪ A 2020 musical sculpture “Work on Felt (Variation 8),” by Israeli artist Naama Tsabar
As for when PAMM will reopen, Sirmans said he hopes to celebrate July 4 with an outdoor program in the bayfront sculpture garden. The interior is set to reopen Sept. 1.
CINTAS: AID FOR ARTISTS
Since 1963, the Cintas Foundation has awarded a total of 401 fellowships to architects, artists, writers and composers born in Cuba or of Cuban descent.
In light of the COVID crisis, the Miami-New York based foundation has decided to forgo its usual fellowships. Insted, it will provide grants in the amount of $1,000 to all eligible applicants accepted for the 2020 competition.
“We all recognize how difficult 2020 has been and continues to be for those in artistic fields,” said foundation president Celso Gonzalez-Falla via a statement. “The Foundation is committed to foster the creative efforts of the worldwide Cuban community, so we are pleased to be able to assist so many creative individuals by directing funds normally allocated for the fellowship awards and ceremony to them in this manner.”
The fellowships will resume in 2021.
MORE ART RELIEF
Miami curators Luna Goldberg and Laura Novoa have curated a relief auction for artists. By & For: Miami, an Instagram-mediated auction at www.instagram.com/by.and.for/, will run from 5 p.m. May 29 - 5 p.m. May 31. Featured artists include John William Bailly, Thomas Bils, Liene Bosquê, Jen Lynn Clay, Lucia Del Sanchez, Diego Gutierrez, Rhea Leonard, Philip Lique, Nick Mahshie, Laura Marsh, Mateo Nava, Alex Nuñez, William Osorio, Jennifer Printz, Nicole Salcedo and Lauren Shapiro.
ELLIES OPEN
On June 2, Oolite Arts opens the application period for the third round of The Ellies, offering artists and art teachers a share of $500,000 for projects that elevate their careers. Applicants can sign on June 3 at 5:30 p.m. for an information session, followed by a 6 p.m. conversation between past winners Karen Rifas and Eduoard Duval-Carrie; both are online at oolitearts.org/event/connect-karen-rifas-edouard-duval-carrie.
