The Frost Art Museum: These Walls Will Talk

The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum. Photo Jose E. Lopez

By Bryan Barcena

It can be argued that the figurative weight of the Miami art world falls squarely on the shoulders of the soon-to-be-constructed Museum Park Complex in downtown Miami. This stunningly-designed Herzog & de Meuron edifice hopes to provide residents with the kind of cultural institution that the city has been deprived of for so long. Although the renovation of the Miami Art Museum will indeed create a landmark venue for art lovers across the city, it is The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum that promises to offer the vast majority of Miami’s residents a high-quality cultural experience that hits a little closer to home, both in spirit and location.

If you were to drop a pin into the true geographic center of Miami, you would find many, if not all, of the established artistic institutions fall due east and outside of  major residential areas. Miami sprawls in such a way that it contains no true center, instead consisting of large residential areas that require city dwellers to commute large distances to partake in any sort of civic entertainment. Falling close to this geographic city center, however, would be the campus of Florida International University and within it, the Frost Museum. The unique location of the Frost Museum will appeal to a much larger audience than most other offerings and museum directors plan to take full advantage of this in making this free-to-the-public museum accessible to visitors from all walks of life.

The art museum as an institution has come to represent what can be described as a symbolic jewel in the skyline of any city willing to raise funds and employ big-name architects. Museums have created fanciful displays of architectural beauty and have come to house some of the most important traveling exhibitions and permanent collections across the globe. This trend, however, has been disappointing. After an initial boom in visitors, many of these museums have seen a startling decline year after year as initial interest has ebbed and they have failed to secure a profitable place in their respective communities. The Frost Museum hopes to buck this trend by re-envisioning the role of the museum within the landscape of the city. Opposed to making the location just a social beacon for the cultural elite, the institution will be a tool used to bring together members of a larger portion of the city.

The first museum to be built in Miami in over 25 years, the museum builds on an already impressive history. The Frost, formerly The Art Museum at FIU, has been in operation for 30 years, operating in a small tucked-away facility on the Florida International University campus. Despite operating out of such a limited space, the museum has had an impressive exhibition history. Some highlights include exhibitions of Marcel Duchamp, Louise Bourgeois, Alfred Stieglitz and The Metropolitan Museum Collection. Adding to the traveling exhibition program, the museum has become the home of the Cintas Fellowship Collection, further cementing itself as a premier venue for the display of high-quality contemporary Latin American Art. In 2001 the museum became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, allowing the two to share exhibitions including what is to be the inaugural exhibition for the renovated Frost Museum, the highly acclaimed Modern Masters, highlighting the work of prodigal painters who came to fame in America during the 1950’s. The alliance also allows for the sharing of some of the Smithsonian’s massive collection of over 140 million objects.

Groundbreaking for the new Frost Museum began in 2003 and the museum will open its doors in November of 2008, taking the exhibition space from a meager 2,000 square feet to an unprecedented 46,000 square feet. The building itself, designed by architect Yann Weymouth, is a stunning example of the dynamic use of light and concrete to create a structure that both invites light in to create open expanses, and yet diffuses it to create personal and intimate environments. Inside the museum, visitors are invited into three main cathedral-like galleries that will house the museum’s temporary large-scale exhibitions. These cavernous interiors will offer, and perhaps challenge exhibition curators with, not only a large amount of horizontal wall space but also a tremendous amount of vertical space, tempting curators to create innovative and dynamic showings. Also drawing the eye upwards is the addition of metal ‘light diffusers.’ These looming geometric devices adjust the amount of natural light entering the gallery and their monstrous presence almost seems plucked out of a science fiction movie, as they rest above viewers’ heads.

The museum also houses a trio of galleries devoted to small-scale temporary exhibitions. One of the galleries will be dedicated to showing the work of emerging artists. Hoping to feature artists from across the globe, it will also focus on bringing in a substantial quantity of innovative work from contemporary Latin American artists and will also concentrate on artists emerging locally. Of the two other temporary exhibition galleries, one will be devoted to the work of students in Florida International University’s BFA and MFA programs and the third gallery will be host to an inventive inter-disciplinary program that will allow the different schools belonging to the University to present their findings and explorations within a visual arts context and will be organized by each respective discipline.

The museum will also dedicate three of the nine exhibition galleries to housing its permanent collection. The museum has recently begun aggressively tailoring its sizeable collection of artifacts and artworks that have been donated to the museum throughout its history, thus creating an exhibition that will both highlight the creative output of diverse geographic locations and time periods and also serve to educate the visitor. Each piece on display will be accompanied by a significant description in both English and Spanish. The permanent collection has truly been envisioned as an educational tool, its initial configuration centering on the idea of the figurative subject. It will feature a diversity of art and art history that juxtaposes elements as diverse as works by contemporary artists, such as Jose Bedia, contrasted with statues of the Buddha and Benin masks, all in an effort to create a cohesive educational narrative.

Accessibility was obviously a concept that was taken into account during the planning stages of the museum, and it is this difference that will allow it to occupy a unique role.  Although many will flock to the museum to wander the impressive gallery space, many more will come to the museum to witness some of the educational programs it will offer including a lecture series that since 1981 has hosted some of the most visionary artists of the twentieth century, including Robert Smith, Susan Sontag, Claus Oldenburg, Frank Stella, Richard Serra and James Rosenquist, among others.

Additionally, the Kenan-Flagler Family Discovery Gallery will offer a computer lab with virtual access to art collections across the globe, should the museum visitor’s interest be piqued by anything on display at the museum. The museum will also host a café and a bookstore, transforming the space from a transitory space into a place where individuals can converge and share their mutual interests.

Time will tell if the Frost Art Museum finds a way to fulfill its mission of becoming an egalitarian center for the arts. Any museum can become a blank slate onto which art is thrust, and while there are an almost infinite number of talented artists awaiting the opportunity to exhibit in such a space, the role of the museum must be that of a link between art and the visitor. Affixing a plaque with Artist, Title, Medium and Date is simply not enough. The quality of forthcoming exhibitions at The Frost will surely exceed expectations and keep donors coming through its doors. What will have to be watched is whether its unique geographic location and drive to educate will allure repeat visitors, while still maintaining the ability to inform, inspire and entertain.