Pérez
Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is launching an international search for a
director to replace Thom Collins, who
will step down in March after guiding the museum’s successful move to a
spectacular new waterfront venue, PAMM Board Chair Aaron Podhurst
announced. Collins will become executive director and president of the
Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
PAMM
trustee Dennis Scholl, the vice president/arts for the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation, will head the committee searching for the
new director and Leann Standish, PAMM deputy director for
external affairs, will serve as interim director following Collins’
departure.
In
its opening year, the museum exceeded its key attendance and membership
goals, with more than 300,000 visitors, compared with 60,000 annually at
the previous venue. The museum has reached more than 70,000 students
and children, with the largest art education program in Miami-Dade
County, outside the school system, itself.
PAMM’s new director will help the contemporary art museum develop a five-year strategic plan, Podhurst said.
“Thom’s
leadership has been instrumental to our many successes, from the
tremendous public response to the museum after its opening in Miami’s
Museum Park, to the
continued successes of our fundraising campaign and collection-building
programs,” said Podhurst. “We congratulate him and are grateful that he
has led the museum to a place of stability and strength from which we
can continue to move forward.”
Collins’s
departure comes a little more than a year after PAMM opened its new,
Herzog and de Meuron-designed facility in Miami’s Museum Park on time,
on budget and
to international acclaim. The museum has grown its membership base to
over 9,000 member households, generating in excess of $2.24 million in
revenue. PAMM recently announced more than $6 million in cash gifts,
bringing its capital campaign to more than 90
percent of goal, as well as significant new gifts to its permanent
collection, some of which are currently on view at the museum through
March 1, 2015, in the exhibition
Beyond the Limited Life of Painting
.
"The
new director will have the opportunity to lead the most important
visual arts institution in a city that has emerged as an internationally
renowned cultural center,” said Scholl."The success of the museum in
all areas, from the building itself to record-breaking attendance and
critically acclaimed exhibitions will allow us to attract excellent
candidates to take the Pérez to the next level."
The international scope of the director search reflects
Greater Miami’s diverse community and its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas.
The city of Miami is home to a vibrant mix of cultures and
traditions from across North America, the Caribbean, and South America,
and PAMM has attracted tourists from more than 90 countries and all 50
states in just 12 months since opening.
Following the acclaimed run of
Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botânico, the first major US
retrospective on the Brazilian artist’s work organized by PAMM Chief
Curator Tobias Ostander, which closes on
January 11, PAMM will open the U.S. exclusive presentation of
Tàpies: From Within on
February 6.
The exhibition explores the career of Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies and
features 50 works from 1945 through 2011. The exhibition joins current
and upcoming exhibitions on the work of Mario García Torres, Diego
Bianchi,
Victoria Gitman and Shana Lutker, among others, for the 2015 season.
“The
support that this museum has received and the tremendous success it
experienced in its opening year is testament to how important the arts
are to this community,”
said Collins. “Although I am sad to leave Miami, I proud that we have
cemented the museum’s role as Miami’s flagship art museum, a leading
U.S. institution, and an international art destination. I have seen an
entire community come together to create something
tremendous, and I am so grateful to have had the chance to be a part of
it.”
The
search committee for the new director will be Chairman Dennis Scholl;
Vice-Chair Rose Ellen Greene; Jorge Perez; Jeff Krinsky; Susana
Ibarguen; Dede
Moss; Craig Robins; Carol Hall; Greg Ferrero; Walid Wahab; Gail Myers;
and Aaron Podhurst.
About PAMM:
Pérez
Art Museum Miami (PAMM) promotes artistic expression and the exchange
of ideas; advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art,
architecture, and design;and reflecting the diverse community of its
pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. Designed
by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, the facility opened
in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park on December 4,
2013, is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and
progressive programming. The facility features 200,000 square feet of
indoor and outdoor program space with spacious galleries; shaded outdoor
verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a
museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and
classroom spaces. For more information, please visit
www.pamm.org, find us on Facebook (facebook.com/
perezartmuseummiami), or follow us on Twitter (@pamm).