Miami, FL – February 17, 2018 – Saturday night at Pérez Art Museum Miami’s Art + Soul Fifth Anniversary Celebration of the PAMM Fund for African American Art, nearly 350 guests attended the historic evening in support of the Fund. The evening kicked off with an intimate dinner in Paresky Hall emceed by Local 10 Anchor Neki Mohan. Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, welcomed supporters and announced that Knight Foundation would match every dollar raised this year in an effort to help PAMM create an incredible collection of African American Art. Throughout the evening, more than $250,000 was raised towards the match—more than $500,000 total, ensuring that works by African American artists will always be represented in PAMM’s permanent collection for generations to come. During the evening’s celebration, PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans also revealed the fund’s newest acquisition, a painting by Tschabalala Self—a renowned 26-year-old female artist whose work celebrates the Black female body in contemporary culture. Self said a few words about her work, Chopped Cheese (2017), which explores the environments of identity politics by focusing specifically on bodegas—public storefronts that serve as a hallmark of lower-income Black and Latinx communities throughout New York City. Known for her collage and assemblage paintings, Self’s work examines contemporary perspectives on femininity, race, and gender. The lively event also featured special musical performances by Cellist Guy Michel, songstress TXS, and DJ She-J Hercules. The program also included art historian and artist David C. Driskell, inaugural Art + Soul Dinner Host Deryl McKissack, and celebrity chef Amaris Jones. Notable guests included Knight Foundation VP/Arts Victoria Rogers, Director of Arts Bahia Ramos, and Director of Journalism LaSharah Bunting; Mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum; songwriter and producer Rico Love; playwright and actor Tarell Alvin McCraney; former White House Social Secretary for President Obama Desirée Rogers; and PAMM collection artists José Bedia, Adler Guerrier, and Tomás Esson. The PAMM Fund for African American Art was established in 2013 with the donation of a $1 million grant, funded equally by Jorge M. Pérez and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, for the purchase of contemporary art by African American artists for the museum’s permanent collection. Through the Fund, the museum first acquired works by Al Loving, Faith Ringgold, and Xaviera Simmons. These works joined other significant PAMM collection objects by artists such as Leonardo Drew, Sam Gilliam, Rashid Johnson, Lorna Simpson, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, and Purvis Young, among others. The Fifth Annual Reception for the PAMM Fund for African American Art was supported by Knight Foundation, Microsoft, and Kim Crawford.

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