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Miami Art Museum Launches Capital Campaign

Miami, December 9, 2002 -- The Miami Art Museum (MAM) today announced the leadership of its capital campaign for a new, world-class facility to be constructed in Bicentennial Park.

Paul L. Cejas, Dr. Phillip Frost, and Jorge M. Perez will chair MAM's "Art for All People" campaign to raise private donations for phase-one construction of the new facility.

"Miami is blessed to have in these volunteers such passion for the visual arts, devotion to our community and a real understanding of the historic importance of this moment and opportunity," said Aaron Podhurst, chair of MAM's board of trustees.

"We must build a new art museum worthy of all that Greater Miami is and will become on the global landscape of ideas and creativity," Podhurst added. "The new MAM will be a haven for all people, as Miami itself is, and will stand as a testament to the importance of art and culture in all our lives."

Each of the three co-chairs has a distinguished record of civic involvement and corporate achievement.

Cejas, former U. S. ambassador to Belgium, is chairman of PLC Investments, a real-estate and venture-capital investment firm. A former chairman of the Miami-Dade County School Board and a former member of the Florida Board of Regents, Cejas currently serves as a trustee of Florida International University. He is also a former MAM trustee.

Frost, a governor of the American Stock Exchange, is chairman of Ivax Corporation, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, as well as of Whitman Education Group, a provider in 13 states of career-oriented postsecondary education. Frost is also the chairman of the board of trustees of University of Miami.

Perez, chairman of The Related Group of Florida, South Florida’s premier multi-family housing developer. Co-chairman of the 1994 Summit of the America’s in Miami, Perez is a MAM trustee and a trustee of the University of Miami. A past member of the National Council on the Arts, Perez currently serves as vice chairman of the Miami-Dade Culture Affairs Council and as director of the Miami Film Festival.

The Miami Art Museum is rapidly outgrowing its existing facility near Interstate 95 in downtown Miami. Its relocation to Bicentennial Park on Biscayne Bay was made possible last July when the Miami City Commission and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz designated "Museum Park Miami" as the official development plan for the 29-acre park.

The concept of Museum Park Miami originated more than two years ago in a formal collaboration between MAM and the Miami Museum of Science, which is also is outgrowing its present location south of downtown Miami. The two museums concluded that Bicentennial Park--historically under-utilized and fenced off from Biscayne Boulevard--would be their ideal, mutual, destination.

Following a deliberate, public process that gathered momentum with a citizen-driven design charette early last year, the City of Miami tentatively selected three alternative schematics. Museum Park Miami, officially chosen the winner this summer, contemplates a totally redesigned and reconstructed park, restoring access and activity and permanently hosting only MAM and The Museum of Science which will be a re-named Science Center of the Americas.

Each institution will overlook a grand open space between them; four acres apiece have been permanently reserved for their respective building footprints (through each initial phase will occupy only a portion of that space), as well as four acres per museum for MAM’s public sculpture garden and Science’s outdoor exhibits.

Phase one of MAM's new building will be constructed following an international design competition. It will include galleries for MAM’s permanent collection—international in scope, with emphasis on the onset of the Western Hemisphere—as well as space for exhibitions, and educational complex, café, bookstore, and other amenities.

Located close to the Performing Arts Center now under construction as well as a host of other educational, entertainment, residential and tourist institutions, the new MAM will be at the cultural heart of Greater Miami. Museum Park Miami is expected to attract more than 1.2 million visitors annually upon completion.

"All of the world's greatest cities have parks anchored by renowned and respected cultural institutions," said Susana Ibargüen, president of MAM's board of trustees. "Ours is a world-class vision to create our community's flagship collecting art museum that, when completed, will position our city as a truly international metropolis."

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