PAMM Raised More Than $1 Million for the PAMM Fund for Black Art
(MIAMI — February 7, 2022) — On Saturday, February 5, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) hosted artists, philanthropists, and museum supporters for the ninth annual Art + Soul celebration, one of Miami’s premier social and fundraising events in support and celebration of the PAMM Fund for Black Art, which highlights the vast scope of various identities represented by the fund, including those from Latin America and the Caribbean in addition to the African Diaspora. The museum raised over $1 million for the Fund.
Event Images: Images available for download here.
Photo Credit: WorldRedEye.com
PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans revealed the fund’s most recent art acquisitions: Wallace Simmons and Eric Allums, Birmingham, AL and Cabin and Palm Trees, both photographs by Dawoud Bey, and On the Other Side of Everything, a hyperrealistic painting by Calida Rawles. All three artworks use vivid and evocative imagery to address the history of racial terrorism in the United States, alluding to a past haunted by unspeakable violence.
This evening also honored actor and activist David Alan Grier, who has been an outspoken force in the arts through his commitment to championing Black artists, as well as a major collector of Black art for over two decades, with works by artists including Kevin Beasley, Mickalene Thomas, and Kara Walker.
“We were honored to host such an influential and renowned crowd of friends from across the country and Caribbean while celebrating art and artists, and the dedicated and knowledgeable David Alan Grier. Grier’s commitment to championing Black art has allowed for the field to develop and expand, mirroring PAMM’s own mission in being a leader in the presentation of art from underserved communities. We are so grateful to have acquired artworks by Dawoud Bey and Calida Rawles, all of which tell the stories the museum seeks to share with the world,” said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans.
Guests enjoyed refreshing cocktails and an intimate dinner on PAMM’s iconic waterfront terrace by celebrity chef Alexander Smalls, the visionary behind the award-winning restaurant The Cecil, New York City’s first Afro-Asian-American restaurant. Following a glamorous champagne toast to the acquisition reveal, guests danced and mingled under the stars to entertainment provided by DJ Pam Jones and Deep Fried Funk.
Art + Soul attendees were also able to peruse PAMM’s galleries, including Allied with Power, an exhibition of over 30 works by international African and African Diaspora artists; Simone Leigh: Trophallaxis, sculptures, videos, and installations that center on the construction of Black female subjectivity; Heaven’s Gate, a vertigo-inducing meditation on the Hollywood ‘Dream Factory’ by video artist Marco Brambilla; and Felipe Mujica: The Swaying Motion on the Bank of the River Falls, a collection of patchwork designs made in collaboration with the artisans of the Miccosukee tribe in South Florida.
Notable guests included actor and honoree David Alan Grier; artist and photographer Dawoud Bey; artist Calida Rawles; celebrity chef Alexander Smalls; Miami-Dade Commissioner (district 3) Keon Hardemon; Miami-Dade Commissioner (district 8) Danielle Cohen Higgins; City of Miami Commissioner (district 5) Christine King; PAMM Board Chairman Aaron Podhurst; PAMM Board President Luke Palacio; PAMM Trustees Chris Armstrong, Maria Bechily, Karen Bechtel, Barron Channer, Greg Ferrero, Rose Ellen Greene, Diane Grob, Eric G. Johnson, Laura Kaplan, Kimberly Marshall, Deryl McKissack, Diane Moss, Dr. Mark Oren and Nedra Oren, Patricia Papper, Dorothy Terrell, Juan Toro and Alexa Wolman; writer and activist Tom Healy; philanthropists Patricia and Lloyd Howell; Ambassador Kirk Wagar and Crystal Wagar; gallerist and TV personality Jumaane N’Namdi; marketing communications pioneer Thomas Burrell; former Miami Television anchor Neki Mohan; artist Christopher Carter and Tracey Robertson Carter; actress Erica Hubbard; interior designer Doreen Chambers; actress Holly Gaines, artist Brian Poli-Dixon, artist and photographer Delphine Fawundu, artist Amanda Williams; musician Etienne Charles; collectors Aaliyah and Reggie Browne; collectors Eric McKissack and Cheryl McKissack Daniel and fashion designer Michael Costello.
Art and Soul was sponsored by Baldwin Richardson Foods, BET, Goldman Sachs, Lincoln Financial Group, Microsoft, Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits, Congress Wealth Management, and Perrier.
ABOUT THE PAMM FUND FOR BLACK ART
The PAMM Fund for Black Art was established in 2013 as the Fund for African American Art with a $1 million donation, funded equally by Jorge M. Pérez and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, for the purchase of contemporary art by African American artists for the museum’s permanent collection. In 2021, PAMM renamed the fund to the Fund for Black Art, to more inclusively describe the various identities represented by the fund, including from Latin America and the Caribbean in addition to the African Diaspora. Through the Fund, the museum first acquired works by Al Loving, Faith Ringgold, and Xaviera Simmons, which joined other significant pieces in the museum’s collection by African American artists such as Leonardo Drew, Sam Gilliam, Rashid Johnson, Lorna Simpson, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, and Purvis Young.
ABOUT PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), led by Director Franklin Sirmans, 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. The nearly 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013 in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.
