Collector Jorge Perez Already Has His Name on a Big Miami Museum. Now He’s Opening a Museum of His Own

Miami, a city famous for being full of collectors who
continually splinter their efforts into tiny private museums, now
has another new institution.

Florida real estate baron Jorge M. Pérez, who convinced the
Miami Art Museum to change its name to the Pérez Art Museum Miami
in his honor following his $40 million gift in 2011, is now
opening a private museum in the same city.

Designed to showcase his contemporary art collection, the new
art center, named El Espacio 23, will be housed in a 28,000
square foot former warehouse. It is due to open in December
during Art Basel week.

“I remain whole heartedly committed to supporting the Pérez Art
Museum Miami and see Espacio 23 as an extension of that mission,”
Pérez said in a statement.

“The [Pérez] museum’s curatorial team has done an incredible job
at positioning the museum and our city as an international cultural
destination, and this new space will allow us to build upon that
work through experimental exhibitions and programming focused
around the specific interests of the collection,” he added.

The museum’s first show, organized by Colombian curator Jose
Roca, is titled “Time for Change: Art and Social Unrest in the
Jorge M. Pérez Collection.” It includes works by 80 artists
including Alfredo Jaar, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Doris Salcedo, and
Ai Weiwei, among others.

Espacio 23 will also have three apartments and shared work space
for residencies, which will last six to eight weeks and be offered
to artists and curators in various disciplines and stages of their
careers. There are already plans to partner the institution with
the Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Reina Sofia in Madrid.

In addition, the new institution will support local artists
working in public in the surrounding neighborhood
of Allapattah. The first such projects will be
with Alberto Baraya, Raimond Chaves, Gilda Mantilla, and
Susana Pilar Delahante.

“This new center was born from the belief that at the core of
any of the world’s great cities, is a thriving community of artists
and creatives,” Pérez said. “This is a project 40 years in the
making, and I look forward to inspiring and challenging visitors to
think beyond the scope of their personal world views, while also
cultivating the artists and curators of tomorrow.”

Among Pérez’s other philanthropic initiatives are two prizes for artists:
the $25,000 Jorge M. Pérez Award for alumni of
Miami’s National YoungArts Foundation, and the
$50,000 Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize for living artists, selected
by the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

In May, he also announced the Pérez CreARTE grants program,
which will distribute $1 million to artists and art organizations
each year.

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Miami Museum. Now He’s Opening a Museum of His Own appeared
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