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Mission Statement
The purpose of the Bass Museum of Art is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the visual arts for the residents and visitors of the city, the county, and the region as well as an international community of scholars and art connoisseurs. The museum achieves its purpose by developing and mounting exhibitions from its permanent collection and creating and presenting loan exhibitions from national and international collections, stimulating tourism, and providing an important cultural destination for the City. Essential to this function is the creation of educational programs related to the exhibitions. Central to its mission are the needs of the region's ethnic constituencies, students, and the artistic community. |
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History
History The Bass Museum of Art was established by agreement in 1963 when the City of Miami Beach accepted the gift of the art collection of John and Johanna Bass upon condition that it would maintain the collection in perpetuity, provide for the exhibition of the collections, and keep it open and available to the public. The museum occupies what was originally the Miami Beach Public Library and Art Center, which was designed in 1930 by Russell Pancoast, grandson of Miami Beach pioneer John A. Collins. This was Miami’s first public building with an exhibition space for the fine arts, and it was designed to preserve the symmetry of the formal gardens of Collins Park, which had been donated to the City by Collins and laid out in the 1920s. This building is now the centerpiece of the city’s historic district and was placed on the National Register in 1978.
Funding
The Bass Museum of Art receives both public and private general operating funding. Major support comes from the City of Miami Beach, with the support of the Mayor and Commissioners of the City of Miami Beach and Friends of the Bass Museum, Inc. This project is also supported by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts; and the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program and Cultural Arts Council. |
