What saddens me is reading the comments to this article. It’s so full of hate and racism! If we assume that these people really do live in Miami-Dade, or even Broward, we have a VERY long way to go, much further than I had hoped or even imagined. Sad. Very Sad.
Jorge Pérez saddened by Miami Museum of Art controversy:
“…to a backdrop of a Miami finally making headway in its quest to be called a serious cultural center, Pérez’s gift is being greeted by a community divided over the idea of the MAM becoming the PAM. Or, the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade Country. Perhaps the Pérez, for short.
While most applaud the generosity of his gift — $20 million in cash to be delivered over time and $15 million worth of the Latin American art that lines every wall in his house — there are also some who slam him for wanting to claim all the credit for a museum being bankrolled largely by taxpayers, who in 2005 voted to contribute $100 million to help MAM build a larger, more high-profile home.
“When I saw the negative reaction, I was blown away,” says Pérez, whose gift comes at a critical time for a museum struggling through capital and endowment campaigns even as its architecturally-celebrated new campus rises in Bicentennial Park.
“I’m saddened. I never thought this would be the reaction,’’ he says as he walks from room to room to see the Diego Riveras, Roberto Mattas, Fernando Boteros, Joaquín Torres Garcias, José Bedias and his other “babies” that will soon be carted away by museum staff, leaving most of his walls bare. He has been a collector for decades, and can tell a story for each of his acquisitions.
“Perhaps stupidly, I thought people would say, ‘This is amazing. Not only has someone stepped up so that this museum can become a reality, but a Cuban American has finally stepped up with a major contribution to the arts in Miami.’ ’’
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/17/2551350/naming-rites.html#storylink=cpy
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