(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- Miami Art Museum’s ongoing capital campaign received a big boost today as Miami’s business, civic and cultural leaders gathered to honor the private sector’s collective impact on South Florida’s cultural landscape during the Museum’s Fourth Annual Corporate Luncheon. In accepting MAM’s Corporate Honors Award, Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions and a mainstay of support in South Florida’s cultural community, announced a $1 million donation to the Museum’s $120 million capital campaign. The gift, to be made through the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, will fund a five-year programming endowment for new artwork, as well as the naming of a focus gallery in MAM’s new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in Miami’s Museum Park, which is currently under construction and slated to open in 2013.

With Bank of America’s support, MAM has now raised approximately $52 million in cash and private pledges through its capital campaign. With the $31 million fundraising threshold required for constructing its new building exceeded, and $100 million in bond funds approved by Miami Dade County voters, all additional monies raised towards the total $220 million budget will ultimately support the Museum’s operating endowment and programs.

“Bank of America’s generous support for Miami Art Museum continues the bank’s long track record of enacting positive change in South Florida’s arts community,” said Aaron Podhurst, chairman of Miami Art Museum’s board of trustees. “The bank’s gift is a shining example of how our corporate partners are directly impacting the Museum – and our community – for the better. Private sector support will take on added significance leading up to the debut of Miami Art Museum’s new home in Museum Park, and we encourage other members of Miami’s corporate sector to follow Bank of America’s lead.”

This year’s event was the Museum’s largest Corporate Luncheon to date, with more than 300 guests in attendance. All told, MAM raised more than $100,000, exceeding the Luncheon’s fundraising goal. Proceeds from the Luncheon will support The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, an exhibition which MAM will present in 2012 with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge initiative.

“Miami is at an exciting time in its evolution as a world-class city with a vibrant, arts and culture community,” said Gene Schaefer, market president for Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties for Bank of America. We are proud of our role in this transformation by supporting the new Miami Art Museum among other key arts nonprofits, and by so doing, bolstering the financial, cultural and social health of our community.”

Antonio L. Argiz, CEO and managing partner of accounting firm Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC, served as 2011 Luncheon Honorary Chair. Pedro A. Fernandez, principal of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, and Alex Espenkotter, partner with law firm Heller Waldman, PL, took part as Luncheon Chairmen. Thom Collins, director of Miami Art Museum, and Dennis Scholl, Vice President, Arts, for John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, delivered the luncheon’s keynote speech, entitled “Growing Miami, Growing Miami Art Museum: A Dialogue for the Corporate Community.” The presentation explored the current state of affairs in Miami’s arts and cultural landscape, which has undergone a dramatic resurgence in recent years.

Miami Art Museum Corporate Luncheon supporters included: Presenting Sponsor South Motors Automotive Group; Diamond Sponsor The Fairholme Foundation; Gold Sponsors Bank of America, Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, Frank Crystal & Company, Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Grossman Roth, P.A., Hall, Lamb and Hall, P.A., John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Lehman Auto World, Mallah Furman, Morrison Brown Argiz & Farra, LLC, Podhurst Orseck, P.A., Rice Pugatch Robinson & Schiller, P.A., Shutts & Bowen LLP, SunTrust Bank Florida and U.S. Trust; Silver Sponsors: Bernstein Global Wealth Management, Carnival Corporation, John Moriarty & Associates, LAFCO New York / Santa Maria Novella, Merrill Lynch and Waste Services, Inc. and Media Sponsor PODER Magazine.

Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Recently, Miami Art Museum has presented exhibitions of works by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Quisqueya Henriquez, Guillermo Kuitca, Wifredo Lam, Susan Rothenberg and Yinka Shonibare, and its Permanent Collection includes works by Doug Aitken, José Bedia, Mark Dion, Marcel Duchamp, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ann Hamilton, Arturo Herrera, Alfredo Jaar, Sol LeWitt, Vik Muniz, Wangechi Mutu, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, James Rosenquist, Tomas Saraceno, Lorna Simpson and Rachel Whiteread. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 people every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum at Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami- Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners. Miami Art Museum is an accessible facility. For sign language interpretation or assistive listening devices please call Miami Art Museum’s education department 305.375.4073 at least five days in advance. Materials in accessible format may be requested.

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