Oh, Baby! Museum of Sex Is Coming to Allapattah

SEX!

Now that I have your attention, Museum of Sex.

The latest attraction to move into the growing Allapattah arts district is the new Miami branch of New York City's Museum of Sex. The museum dedicated to, per a press release, "preserving, presenting, and celebrating the cultural significance of human sexuality," will open in spring 2023 in a converted warehouse at 2200 NW 24th St.

For what it's worth, and despite what the name may have you believe, the Museum of Sex doesn't seem to be some novelty attraction. International architecture firm Snøhetta, which designed the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York, is heading up the new museum's design. The museum also promises a mix of all-star artists and serious discussions about the history of human sexuality. For its inaugural Miami exhibitions, it's bringing a survey of acclaimed Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama — the guy who does all the sexy robots for Dior and the Weeknd — as well as a survey called "Modern Sex" that includes historical artifacts and objects ranging from AIDS protest art to antique vibrators. It'll also have an "immersive experience" called "Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival," designed in collaboration with RuPaul and others that includes games, rides, and a "mermaid tank." So alright, there are some novelties.

This isn't the only art museum heading to Allapattah in the near future. Ever since the Rubell Museum relocated to Allapattah during Miami Art Week 2019, the surrounding neighborhood has been the subject of intense development, mostly centered around art, intensifying worries about gentrification. Superblue, an immersive art experience backed by Pace Gallery, opened in April 2021, and last year Fotografiska, the international chain of photography exhibition houses, also announced it would be opening a Miami location in the area. Several local galleries also operate nearby, with Mindy Solomon Gallery just a block away on NW 24th Street.

For the record, there is also an already-existing "museum of sex" in Miami. The Naomi Wilzig Erotic Art Museum has been active in South Beach since 2005 and boasts an incredibly impressive collection of art and artifacts from across the globe. Given Miami's hard-earned reputation as a den of sin and iniquity, maybe it makes sense to have more than one museum dedicated to sex in all its myriad forms. Perhaps it will even lead to more frank discussion of related topics, such as the precarious position of sex workers in society. Maybe it won't be just another lurid, overpriced tourist attraction. (Hey, a guy can dream.)

Find more information about the Museum of Sex at museumofsex.com.