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Message from the Director

Dear Friends of the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum,
Do you remember the bumper sticker that read, “if you can read this you are too close”? If you are reading this newsletter, then you are a cultural consumer. We are part of a growing ecosystem and economy in Miami that generates $1.43 billion in economic impact with more than 16 million people attending cultural events in Miami-Dade County annually. Each year, the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU learns new ways to connect with cultural consumers—novice and experienced—to stay relevant in the community and leverage its presence as a recognized hub of creative activity.
As I look back on this year, I have seen dramatic increases in our visitor numbers, membership, and social media followers. Donors increasingly demonstrate confidence in our mission by gifting us works of art passionately collected over the years. In turn, we have honored these donors by featuring these works in recent exhibitions such as Lalla Essaydi: Image and Text and Seeking Knowledge: Art from Puerto Rico and the Diaspora gifted by Dr. Gamaliel R. Herrera. Our diverse and dynamic exhibition program has, in turn, generated an increased number of visitors, including 12,000 FIU students who come with their classes, groups of friends, or in search of a solitary, meditative experience.

STEAMworks, the Frost’s innovative teaching program in our public schools, has spread to new schools that seek STEAM designation to prepare all students in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. We have greeted more than 7,500 K-12 students whose exposure to museums, galleries, and the art profession may well begin at this museum. In fact, that’s our operating assumption. In partnership with FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the Frost has launched an ambitious program to marry the art of looking with the medical arts. One student pronounced their experience in this program as “life changing.” We remain committed to this student and others who see art as offering access to a new language of empathy and wellbeing.

Each year, new collaborative opportunities arise for innovative expression among the arts. This year I have had the distinct pleasure of experiencing dancers, musicians, singers, and poets performing in our galleries, moved by inspirational art, human emotions, and compelling ideas that resonate in our welcoming space. A site-specific hyperreal mural The Golden Lining now greets visitors on our second floor, thanks to Tratos, the creative team of Juan Travieso and Katerina Santos. This vibrant work depicts flora and fauna (including an extraordinary Florida panther) that have been deeply affected by environmental changes in our region.

If you have read this to the end, then you are not too close. In fact, come closer! Stay engaged and mark your calendars for October 7th when we open our Fall 2023 exhibition season along with a robust slate of events and programs. As always, if you like what we are doing, consider making a gift of membership or honoring someone with a donation. Help support our mission to provide free access to arts experiences.

Warm regards,
Jordana Pomeroy

Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, Museum Director

Photograph by Jose Luis Garcia