Bridging Divides — Community, Philanthropy, and the Arts

Cities around the world are emerging as creative forces thanks to their burgeoning arts and creative districts — attracting talent and investment, spurring business, and boosting quality of life. Communities are also leveraging arts and culture to unite and encourage discussion of sensitive issues.

Miami has been viewed as a model for how arts and culture can flourish citywide and spur economic growth and community building. How Miami got its art scene can be traced to the philanthropist Jorge M. Pérez. In addition to supporting several arts and culture organizations including the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, Miami International Film Festival, Adrienne Arsht Center, Gables Stage, Miami Music Project, Arts for Learning Miami, Miami New Drama, Nu Deco Ensemble, South Florida Art Center and The Fountainhead Experience, Pérez provided a generous leadership gift to construct a new home for Miami Art Museum, ultimately helping to transform a derelict 30-acre waterfront site into Museum Park and affirm the region’s growing stature as a global capital. In 2013, the museum was renamed Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).

PAMM helped Miami further retain its creative reputation by luring the heralded art critic, editor, writer, and curator Franklin Sirmans to be its director. Since 2015, Mr. Sirmans has ensured that PAMM’s art program reflects the community in Miami and has secured some of the largest donations of works in the museum’s history.

Our visit to PAMM will feature an intimate conversation between the two creative leaders who are making Miami central to the arts world. Learn and discuss how philanthropy can play a role in the intersection of art, economics, and community. Guests will also be treated to a guided tour of the galleries.