The Best Art Openings During Miami Museum Months

Think all the art goes away with the Basel crowds in December? Please. Miami’s museums and art spaces are constantly punching above their weight all year round, with some even saving the good stuff for the lean summer months. In fact, now’s a great time to go on some art adventures: The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau has declared the period up of April 1-May 31 Miami Attraction & Museum Months, and local institutions are getting into the spirit with discounts galore.

You can see all the deals on the bureau’s website. Below, New Times highlights some of the best art openings and Museum Month deals of the season. (Still no word on that Museum of Sex, unfortunately.)

Pérez Art Museum Miami

Whether or not you’ve been dragging your feet on visiting the blockbuster Leandro Ehrlich show that opened at PAMM in December, now’s an even better time to check it out. In addition to immersive art from Argentinian Ehrlich and Venezuelan Carlos Cruz-Diaz, the museum has added one of Yayoi Kusama’s largest infinity mirror rooms, “Love is Calling,” as well as a vibrant new room-size project from Brazilian artist Marcella Cantuária. There’s even more to come, with Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s decolonial video work debuting on April 13 and local Cuban-Lebanese artist Jason Seife opening his show on May 19. PAMM is also offering a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for Museum Month. 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org. Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Monday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission costs $12 to $16.

Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami

While the ICA is free to enter every day – no deals here, sorry! – its spring/summer exhibition slate may be the best in the city. A fantastic survey of British-Caribbean painter Denzil Forrester’s marvelous, reggae-influenced paintings just opened, and shows by buzzy emerging artists such as Avery Singer (opens April 22), Aglaé Bassens, and Claire Tabouret (both opening May 5) are also coming up. The museum is hosting Singer as part of its ICA Speaks series on her show’s opening night, Saturday, April 22; the event is ticketed and costs $15. 61 NE 41st St., Miami; 305-901-5272; icamiami.org. Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami

Right off the heels of its excellent Didier William show, MOCA is exhibiting work from another prominent Black artist, the illustrious Lonnie Holley. While the 73-year-old Alabama native is also getting buzz for his recent album Oh Me Oh My, “Lonnie Holley: If You Really Knew” will focus on his practice as a self-taught artist and his journey from extreme poverty in the Jim Crow South to a one-of-a-kind artistic sensibility. The museum is also putting on the South Florida Cultural Consortium’s annual group show, featuring 12 local artists. Both shows open Wednesday, May 10. 770 NW 125th St., North Miami; 305-893-6211; mocanomi.org. Wednesday noon to 7 p.m. and Thursday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $5 to $10.

Lowe Art Museum

The University of Miami art museum recently opened “Transcendent Clay,” an exhibition showcasing the pottery practice of the Kondo family of Kyoto, Japan. So what? It’s just a bunch of clay pots, you may think. Think again. The show dives into three generations of Kondo porcelain masters, from the exceptional traditional designs of Kondo Yuzo to the utterly unique contemporary pieces of Kondo Takahiro, whose work ranges from sculptural monoliths inspired by Scottish standing stones to full-body casts responding to the devastation of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. 1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables; 305-284-3535; lowe.miami.edu. Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Frost Art Museum

The Florida International University museum has plenty going on throughout the year and into the summer, which may be why it’s offering 10 percent off annual membership during the Museum Months period. Upcoming shows include looks into works on paper from post-Renaissance Italy, contemporary drawing, and the school’s annual Master of Fine Arts exhibition. On display right now is the vital exhibit “An Elegy to Rosewood,” marking 100 years since a KKK-instigated massacre of Black residents in the northern Florida town, as well as a show of Haitian paintings from the 1980s and ’90s. 10975 SW 17th St., Miami; 305-348-2890; frost.fiu.edu. Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Locust Projects

Miami’s premier experimental art space recently moved to a new, bigger location in Little River after nearly a decade in the Design District, and it’s celebrating with a new, site-specific presentation by artist Rafael Domenech that’s all about community engagement. Open now, “assembling beneath a desire for sabotage” will feature programming throughout the spring, including an upcoming show-within-a-show featuring a sculpture garden and a Bingo Bash fundraiser on May 6. In the summer, the whole thing will be disassembled by the Locust Art Builders teen art camp participants for use in their own artworks. 297 NE 67th St., Miami; 305-576-8570; locustprojects.org. Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Oolite Arts

Locust isn’t the only local art space that’s swapping locations. Oolite Arts is preparing to move to its new campus next year, but for now, it’s hosting an artist-in-residence exhibition at its gallery on Lincoln Road Mall. Curated by PAMM’s associate curator Jennifer Inacio, “Landscape of Realities” includes a range of multimedia works that explore different “realities.” Sounds trippy. 924 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach; 305-674-8278; oolitearts.org. Daily noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Museum of Graffiti

The street art-centric space in Wynwood is opening “Reduce, Reuse, Remix” on April 22, Earth Day. The show features works made by some of Miami’s most illustrious street muralists – Ahol Sniffs Glue, Krave, and more are on the lineup – using Air-Ink, an innovative painting tool that uses carbon-capture technology. The opening party is free with RSVP, and the attraction also offers a buy-one-get-one-free coupon from now until May 31. 276 NW 26th St., Miami; 786-580-4678; museumofgraffiti.com. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission costs $12 to $16.

NSU Art Museum

Museum pickings are slim if you’re in the Broward area, but Fort Lauderdale’s main museum has a few interesting shows on display. “Animation Generation” focuses on animated works ranging from William Kentridge to Walt Disney, while “Picturing Fame” takes a look at the limelight with work from Warhol, Toulouse-Lautrec, and other artists offering their takes on the subject. “The Eye of CoBrA” dives into the museum’s extensive holdings of art from CoBrA, the radical northern European art movement that included exuberant, childlike works from the likes of Asger Jorn and Karel Appel. 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 954-525-5500; nsuartmuseum.org. Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Admission costs $5 to $16.

The Bass

Miami Beach’s contemporary art museum is offering 15 percent off general admission with its coupon deal from now until May 31. It doesn’t have any openings planned in the near future. Still, it’s worth the trip to Collins Park if you haven’t seen its winter shows, including a site-specific installation by Adrián Villar Rojas and Mariana Telleria. 2100 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7530; thebass.org. Wednesday through Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Admission costs $8 to $15.

Superblue

With a steep admission price –  $36 for adults and $29 with Florida ID on weekdays – the Pace Gallery-owned Superblue is offering a 25 percent discount coupon until May 31. If you’ve somehow resisted the call to pay through the nose for the privilege of walking around Es Devlin’s mirror maze or TeamLab’s digital art installation until now, this month might be a good time to go, especially since the place might not be doing so hot behind the scenes, according to reports. 1101 NW 23rd St., Miami; 786-697-3405; superblue.com. Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets cost $29 to $36.

Rubell Museum

The Rubell Museum isn’t participating in Museum Month and has only changed a few galleries since its last major opening during Miami Art Week, but its current exhibits, including a blockbuster show by artist-in-residence Alexandre Diop, remain unmissable. Admission also costs less than nearby Superblue, even with the discounts. 1100 NW 23rd St., Miami; 305-573-6090; rubellmuseum.org. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission costs $10 to $15.