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| Enesse Bhé/Flickr |
This year, the biggest news in Miami's art scene is the opening of the Perez Art Museum Miami, scheduled to coincide with Art Basel in December. But PAMM isn't the only Miami museum with new digs on the horizon.
The Bass Museum announced this morning that it will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2014 with a brand new wing of educational and exhibition space, funded by a $7.5 million grant from the City of Miami Beach.
See also: Agustina Woodgate Paints Massive Hopscotch Around the Bass Museum (VIDEO)
The new wing will include two additional classrooms, complementing the existing Lindeman Family Creative Center, according to a press release from the museum. The center hosts art classes for children from babies to age 12, as well as an Art Club for adults and a series of film screenings, lectures, and workshops for teachers.
When the new wing is completed, the educational facilities at the museum will be able to hold a total of 125 students: 25 in two of the classrooms, and up to 75 in a larger venue. The educational center will have its own entrance, separate from the main doorway into the museum. The Bass projects that it'll be able to serve twice as many students as it does now when the new classrooms open next year.
Fewer details are available concerning the Bass' new exhibition space. ""We are working to create an improved and functional design that will provide 47 percent more exhibition and program space within the museum's same building footprint," said Silvia Karman Cubiña, Executive Director and Chief Curator, in a statement.
The Bass' last major architectural upgrades took place in 2001, when the museum added a 20,000 sq. ft. addition onto its original Art Deco structure. (That was when the museum added its centerpiece ramp connecting the ground and second floors, as well as its sculpture terrace.)
But why the generosity from the city's coffers? "Miami Beach is such a progressive city and its commitment to the arts continues to reinforce its position as the most important cultural destination in South Florida," said Bass president George Lindemann in a statement.
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