From extraordinary exhibitions to engaging lectures to private galleries, Miami’s art scene is thriving! Rounding up the top 5 modern art museums in the Magic City, here’s your list of the best places to fuel your creativity and gain inspiration through art.

Miami Art Museum

For the first time in Miami Art Museum’s 13-year history, the museum is dedicating its largest exhibition space to its permanent collection with BETWEEN HERE and THERE: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection. Unlike most other public museum collections in the U.S., MAM’s collection consists almost exclusively of 20^th and 21^st century art, a reflection of Miami’s youth as a city and the collecting patterns of its residents. While collectors in other major cities have been acquiring art since the 1800’s, Miami’s art collecting past really began in the second half of the 20^th century as its population grew and residents accumulated wealth, setting MAM apart among public art museums.

Visitors to the exhibition will notice a decidedly international tilt, mirroring Miami’s place as a cultural melting pot and strong ties to Latin America and Europe. A scan of the collection’s makeup speaks volumes: American painters of the 20^th and 21^st century replace old world masters; works by modern-day Latin American artists take the place of antiquities; and large-scale installations by contemporary sculptors supplant renaissance altarpieces. Young, fresh, global, and unpredictable, MAM’s collection embodies Miami. According to press materials, the show includes works from dozens of top-flight 20^th and 21^st century artists, including Tomás Saraceno, Chuck Close, Frank Stella, Kehinde Wiley, Gerhard Richter, Alexander Calder, Jose Bedia, Robert Rauschenberg, Marcel Duchamp, Sol LeWItt, and Wifredo Lam, among others.

Additionally, MAM is months away from breaking ground on its new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park. In anticipation of that move (scheduled for 2013), MAM curators are using the museum’s current space as a massive laboratory for testing how different works interact with each other and how the public will experience the collection once it settles in at MAM’s new home. BETWEEN HERE and THERE affords patrons a rare opportunity to watch a museum exhibition evolve; a visitor’s experience at the show this month may be very different from their visit next month. The show began on February 28 and runs indefinitely.

101 West Flagler St., Miami; (305) 375-3000

Wolfsonian Museum

Founded in 1986 and located in the heart of historic Miami Beach within easy walking distance of the world-famous Art Deco hotels, Florida International University’s Wolfsonian Museum offers a diverse collection of permanent, temporary and traveling shows addressing broad themes of the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries including nationalism, political persuasion, industrialization, architecture and urbanism, consumerism and advertising, transportation, and world’s fairs. With fascinating collections of objects from the modern era (1885-1945), a trip to this museum is a journey reflecting on how art and design shape the human experience. The museum also also offers thought-provoking discussions of the context and connection among its objects.

1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; (305) 535-2623

Bass Museum of Art

Established in 1963 and housed in the historic 1930 Miami Beach Public Library and Art Center building, there’s nothing short of excitement at the Bass Museum in Miami Beach these days.

On Friday nights, the museum hosts their famous jazz series, “Cool Nights Hot Jazz,” from 7 to 9 p.m. with culture, conversation and music by Miami’s most talented local artists. Held in the museum’s café and lounge designed by Chicago-based artist Dzine, the vibrant wall-to-wall mural painted with kaleidoscopic swirls and electric colors is the perfect backdrop for musical exploration. Artists in the series include Fernando Ulibarri Quartet on March 5, Rudolfo Zuñiga Quintet on March 19, Shelly Berg Trio with special guest Ed Calle on April 2, and Negroni Trio on April 16. Admission is $5 for members and $10 for non-members and includes complimentary Bustelo, Grolsch beer and Chilensis wine. For information on membership, contact Denise Wolpert at (312) 673-7530 x1013 or email dwolpert@bassmuseum.org.

Additionally, extended through March 30, the museum hosts a lecture series focusing on topics in art history related to the Where Do We Go From Here? selections from la Colección Jumex exhibition. The lectures examine how content and form have evolved through the ages by reviewing major movements, time periods and artists. Guest lecturers include Susan McGuire, Silvia Karman Cubiñá and Victor Zamudio Taylor among others.

2121 Park Ave., Miami Beach; (305) 673-7530

Gary Nader Fine Arts

Presenting an impressive variety of solo and group exhibitions in the heart of Wynwood, Gary Nader Fine Arts provides private clientele, corporations and museums with acquisition or sale of fine Latin American, Modern and Contemporary art. The gallery also provides certifications and appraisal services as well as art advisory program and curatorial information including cataloguing and conservation. As a private consultant for many years, Mr. Nader offers advice and guidance to collectors, corporations and museums about the location and acquisition of works of art.

The gallery represents some of the most significant modern and contemporary artists including Pablo Atchugarry, Fernando Botero, Carlos Capelan, Sandro Chia, Guillermo Conte, Manuel Esnoz, Walter Goldfarb, Manuel Mendive, Guillermo Munoz Vera, Carlos Quintana and Frank Stella. Open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6 pm.

62 Northeast 27 St., Miami; (305) 442-0256

MOCA: Museum of Contemporary Art

MOCA is truly redefining the way art is showcased. Bringing to light both renouwnded and emerging artists, MOCA is famous for defining new trends and directions in Contemporary art. John Baldessari, Dan Flavin, Dennis Oppenheim, Alex Katz, Nam June Pak, Uta Barth, Teresita Fernandez, Gary Simmons, Jose Bedia, Anna Gaskel, Mariko Mori, John Bock, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Pierre Huyghe, Philippe Parreno, Edward Kienholz, Raymond Pettibon, and Matthew Ritchie are among the artists whose works are included in the collection. Currently closed for installation, the museum will re-open March 11, 2010.

The lineup for March includes the below:

FIGURE DRAWING FOR ADULTS
March 9, 2010 / 10 am – noon
Painting the figure: Watercolor Techniques

5 MINUTES OF FAME ARTISTS FORUM*
March 10, 2010 / 7 pm

OPENING RECEPTION of
CEAL FLOYER: AUTO FOCUS and CORY ARCANGEL: THE SHARPER IMAGE
Knight Exhibition Series
March 11, 2010 / 7 – 9 pm
Free for MOCA members, North Miami residents, City of North Miami employees; $10 non-members

FIGURE DRAWING FOR ADULTS
March 16, 2010 / 10 am – noon
Painting the figure: watercolor techniques

TIME FOR DESIGN FORUM*
March 17, 2010 / 7 – 9 pm
New Paradigms in Communicating Design Culture

ADVANCED CREATIVE ARTS
March 20, 2010 / 2 – 4 pm
Dynamic 3-D Design for 11 – 14 year olds

ARTS FOR ALL*
March 24, 2010 / 7 – 9 pm
Paintings inspired by Food and Drink

MUSIC AT MOCA
March 25, 2010 / 7:30 pm
Members of The Cleveland Orchestra and The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy perform 20th and 21st Century chamber music. Program features the premiere of two chamber works by student composers from Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

JAZZ AT MOCA
March 26, 2010 / 8 pm
Max Farber Trio

770 NE 125th St., North Miami; (305) 893-6211