Evening Supports PAMM’s Fund for Black Art and Reveals Artwork Selected for Permanent Collection. Saturday, February 7, 2026.
(MIAMI, FL — January 12, 2026) — Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is pleased to announce the 13th annual Art + Soul Celebration, one of Miami’s premier social and fundraising events, supporting the PAMM Fund for Black Art. Taking place on February 7, 2026, the upcoming celebration honors pioneering artist Fab 5 Freddy, who brought the worlds of art, music, television, and film together in ways that defined the pop culture of the 1980s. The event is led by co-chairs Holly and Eric G. Johnson, Tracey Robertson Carter and Christopher Carter, and Patricia Howell.
Fab 5 Freddy gained notoriety early in 1980, when he famously painted Warhol soup cans on a New York City subway, most effectively symbolizing the bridging of worlds so elemental to his practice. He led the charge of early graffiti artists moving into galleries, giving birth to the street art movement. The original co-host of the groundbreaking show Yo! MTV Raps, Fab 5 Freddy’s work in film and television also includes co-producing, starring in, and composing music for the cult classic film Wild Style. This March, Fab 5 Freddy is publishing “Everybody’s Fly,” a memoir with Penguin Random House, which will help retell the history of a seismic cultural moment from his uniquely powerful perspective.
“Across art, music, film, and television, Fab 5 Freddy’s work has consistently dissolved boundaries between so-called high and popular culture, creating space for Black creativity to be seen, heard, and valued on a global stage. His legacy is not only artistic, but deeply social: rooted in access, exchange, and cultural pride. We are honored to celebrate an artist whose influence continues to reverberate across generations,” said Franklin Sirmans, Sandra and Tony Tamer Director at PAMM.
The evening features cocktails, music by Deep Fried Funk and DJ Aya, and dancing, as well as a curated dinner by Chef Raheem Sealey. Art + Soul also welcomes arts supporters and PAMM Ambassadors for Black Art for the reveal of the Ambassadors’ most recent art acquisition. The PAMM Fund for Black Art allows the museum to purchase and showcase contemporary art by Black artists for its permanent collection.
In 2025, Art + Soul raised over $1.4 million for the fund and announced the acquisition of Lauren Halsey’s lil e-man (2024) to PAMM’s permanent collection. Since 2013, the annual celebration has raised over $8.4 million for the PAMM Fund for Black Art and acquired 28 artworks, including works by Isaac Julien, Kennedy Yanko, Dawoud Bey, Calida Rawles, Terry Adkins, Kevin Beasley, Nari Ward, Lorraine O’Grady, Ebony G. Patterson, Faith Ringgold, Tschabalala Self, and more.
Past Art + Soul honorees include Thelma Golden, Dr. Lowery S. Sims, Pamela Joyner, David Alan Grier, Jesse Williams, and Mashonda Tifrere.
Initiatives like the PAMM Fund for Black Art further the museum’s commitment to raising public awareness and appreciation for the artistic legacy of Black artists and expanding on conversations of diversity and inclusion. The Art + Soul celebration annually ignites these conversations, and the museum serves as a catalyst to ensure that these works will be enjoyed and valued by Miami’s diverse community for generations to come.
Proceeds from Art + Soul benefit the PAMM Fund for Black Art. Art + Soul 2026 is made possible by Founding Support from the Knight Foundation and Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez, Platinum Sponsors Baldwin Richardson Foods Co. and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon, and Gold Sponsor J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Additional sponsors include Lincoln Financial Group, CW Advisors, Bank United and Hennessy.
For more information on sponsorship and ticketing, please contact Sabrina Flores at sflores@pamm.org.
COCKTAILS + DINNER
6:15pm
Join the museum for cocktails and a seated dinner designed by Chef Raheem Sealey. Enjoy the program and the unveiling of the Ambassadors for Black Art’s most recent art acquisition. Includes access to the Celebration.
CELEBRATION
10pm
The party continues with cocktails, desserts, and dancing under the stars with live entertainment from Deep Fried Funk and DJ Aya. Gallery access begins at 9pm.
HONOREE
Fab 5 Freddy
CO-CHAIRS
Holly and Eric G. Johnson Tracey Robertson Carter and Christopher Carter Patricia Howell
HONORARY CHAIRS
Deryl McKissack Dorothy Terrell
ABOUT FAB 5 FREDDY
Fred Brathwaite, also known as Fab 5 Freddy, is a pioneering graffiti artist who became one of the first to exhibit his paintings internationally helping ignite the street art movement. He co-produced, starred in, and composed the music for the cult classic film Wild Style, directed music videos for numerous hip-hop stars, including Snoop Dogg, Nas, and Queen Latifah, and was the original host of Yo! MTV Raps. Brathwaite lives in Harlem, where he continues to make visual art, produce and direct projects for film and television, and leads the social equity cannabis brand he co-founded, B Noble.
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 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 Sandra and Tony Tamer 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 41-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. ### Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. Additional support is provided by the City of Miami and the Miami OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency (OMNI CRA). Pérez Art Museum Miami is an accessible facility. All contents ©Pérez Art Museum Miami. All rights reserved.
