MAM at Museum Park:
Full Steam Ahead

A message from MAM Founding Director
Suzanne Delehanty

On November 2, 2004, Miami-Dade County voters approved by an overwhelming 65% majority, a $100 million for the creaton of a new facility and sculpture park for the Miami Art Museum. This generous and broad-based, public support affirms MAM’s place at the very center of one of the world’s most vibrant cities, bringing international art to life through world-class exhibits, programs, and collecting. MAM is a welcoming place that stimulates the imagination and inspires new ways of seeing and thinking.

The Miami Art Museum and the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium will transform the 29-acre Bicentennial Park on Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami into a destination for residents and tourists. Through the private-public partnership of Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami, MAM and the Museum of Science, this now abandoned waterfront property will become and unparalleled public park anchored by world-class art and science museums.

Along with its long-term social and economic benefits, Museum Park will affirm Miami-Dade County’s pivotal position as the gateway to the Americas. Together at Museum Park, MAM and the Miami Museum of Science, will enhance the quality of life for residents and create a legacy for future generations of Miamians.

MAM: A 21st-Century Icon for Greater Miami
At Museum Park, MAM will welcome residents and visitors with a many-faceted experience. As a 21st century art museum, MAM will serve as a gathering place for people to meet, share and learn. MAM will offer stimulating activities and inspiring exhibitions that broaden our view of our culture and ourselves. MAM will have a landmark building designed by a leading architect.

MAM’s sculpture park, planned by a renowned landscape architect, will highlight Miami-Dade County’s unique climate, plants and geography. Visitors of all ages will enjoy this four-acre public park filled with notable sculptures created by masters of 20th and 21st century art.

The vision the public set for MAM in 1995 is fast becoming a reality. Here are the headlines:

1997: In response to broad community-wide planning, MAM’s leadership begins the quest for a prominent civic site on the waterfront for a free-standing building and sculpture park for MAM.

2000: MAM and the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium sign a joint resolution to advocate for a museum park at the now-abandoned Bicentennial Park, a 29-acre site on Biscayne Bay owned by the City of Miami, one of 30 municipalities in Miami-Dade County.

2001: The City of Miami secures a $255 million bond issue through a remarkable 57% majority vote. Of this sum, $3.5 million is earmarked for planning a new MAM.

2002: The City of Miami Commission votes unanimously to make Bicentennial Park Museum Park Miami with new homes for both MAM and the Museum of Science. MAM announces it Capital Campaign leaders: Ambassador Paul L. Cejas; Dr. Phillip Frost; and Jorge M. Pérez.

2003: The City of Miami begins seeking an internationally respected master planning team to create the plan for Museum Park, setting the guidelines and the stage for MAM’s new facility.

2004: A blue-ribbon selection committee composed of representatives from MAM, the Museum of Science, the City of Miami and the Miami-Dade County review candidates and rank Cooper Robertson & Partners and its team first.

2004: Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess presents a proposal for the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program to the County Commission. On July 20, the Commission votes by an overwhelming majority to approve this GOB program and the eight questions that comprise it. In Question Eight, the County’s GOB program designates funds for MAM’s new building and sculpture park. The County’s GOB program is presented to voters on November 2.

2004: On November 2, Miami-Dade County voters approve all eight questions of the GOB program and by a 65 percent majority designate $100 million for MAM’s new building and sculpture park.

2005: MAM engages the Paratus Group of New York for project management of its new facility and completes a comprehensive functional building program. MAM initiates and completes a development assessment. MAM also expands and updates its ten-year business plan for not only guide the institution's advancement, but ensure the new museum opens with sound financial and staffing projections. MAM works in tandem with the Museum of Science on the City of Miami's master-planning effort for Museum Park which is under the professional direction of Cooper Robertson & Partners.

MAM at Museum Park: A Private/Public Partnership

The total cost of MAM’s project is $175 million. The County has designated $100 million in GOB funds for MAM’s new building and sculpture park. MAM’s civic leadership is committed to raising $75 million for the project. Of this sum, $60 million is designated for an operating endowment. In addition to $75 million in private sector support, MAM will raise another $26 million in transitional operating support.

MAM’s trustees and loyal supporters created the MAM Leadership Fund to fuel MAM’s planning for this dynamic new phase in our museum’s history.

In the next section of this website, under Project Overview, you’ll find MAM’s slide presentation which gives a snapshot of MAM at Museum Park Miami. Just click on the appropriate link. The presentation includes samples of notable art museums and sculpture parks in other parts of the U.S. and beyond suggesting new possibilities for our community. The slide show also provides information on the seven phases of the project, and its economic benefit to Greater Miami.

We’ve provided links to a detailed fact sheet and history charting the steps MAM has taken since 1995 to create a new MAM facility and sculpture park. Links to press releases announcing the City of Miami’s resolution for Museum Park Miami and MAM’s leadership for its Capital Campaign – Art for All People are also attached.

It has been my privilege to direct the Miami Art Museum through this decade of extraordinary growth. I leave MAM on December 31, 2005 confident that the museum is well poised for the next phase of development.

Suzanne Delehanty
Founding Director