Franklin Sirmans: Director, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)

FRANKLIN SIRMANS came to PAMM from Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), where he served as department head and curator of contemporary art. He was the Artistic Director of the 2014 Prospect New Orleans biennial exhibition, P3: Notes for Now.
As a curator, writer and editor, Sirmans has established himself as one of the leading voices in contemporary art. At LACMA, he curated Noah Purifoy: Junk Dada, as well as Fútbol: The Beautiful Game and oversaw major retrospectives by Glenn Ligon and Blinky Palermo. Previously, he organized exhibitions that originated at the Menil Collection such as Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster, 1964-1966 and Maurizio Cattelan: Is There Life Before Death? and NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith, which traveled to MoMA, PS1, and the Miami Art Museum. He is the former U.S. Editor of Flash Art and Editor-in-Chief of ArtAsiaPacific, and he has written and edited numerous artist and exhibition catalogues.
Sirmans’ appointment at PAMM follows an international search led by PAMM trustee Dennis Scholl, collector, former vice president/arts for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and current CEO of OoliteArts. Scholl said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Franklin at PAMM’s helm. He brings with him experience at numerous large institutions and has a proven track record for galvanizing communities. All of that makes him the ideal person to lead the key museum in a city now renowned as an arts destination and home to a vibrant mix of cultures and traditions.”
Prior to LACMA, Sirmans was curator of modern and contemporary art at the Menil Collection in Houston and before that a curatorial advisor at MoMA PS1 and a lecturer at Princeton University and Maryland Institute College of Art. Some of his notable projects include the exhibition Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum (2005); Make it Now: New Sculpture in New York at SculptureCenter (2005) and One Planet Under A Groove: Contemporary Art and Hip Hop which traveled from the Bronx Museum of the Arts to the Walker Art Center, Spelman College Art Gallery in Atlanta and Villa Stuck, Munich (2001-2003). He is the 2007 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize presented by the High Museum.
Sirmans assumed leadership of PAMM in a time of continued momentum following the successful opening of its new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in December 2013. Since then, the museum has grown its membership base to over 9,000 member households. It has reached more than 70,000 students and children, with the largest art education program in Miami-Dade County, outside the school system, itself.
The videos below are organized by Success Factor and run between 30 seconds and 6 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.
INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 1:12 min.
VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION: 1:06 min.
SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 6:26 min.
DEVELOP A VOICE: 1:26 min.
COMMUNITY VALUES: 2:33 min.
STRONG DRIVE FOR ACHIEVEMENT: 0:56 sec.
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 2:05 min.
CRITICAL THINKING: 0:23 sec.
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 2:43 min.
COLLABORATION: 1:50 min.