In 2013, Jorge M. Pérez and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation together initiated the PAMM Fund for African American Art with a gift of $1 million. In 2017, after acquiring several now iconic works for the museum’s collection, and with new generous donations from the PAMM Ambassadors for African American Art and an additional matching grant from the Knight Foundation, Pérez Art Museum Miami created an endowed fund that today stands at almost $2 million. These contributions have established a powerful mechanism for the diversification and enrichment of the museum’s permanent collection through the acquisition of contemporary art by African American and African diaspora artists.

Polyphonic: Celebrating PAMM’s Fund for African American Art highlights a group of paintings, sculptures, and photographs that have since become quintessential for the museum—including works by Terry Adkins, Romare Bearden, Kevin Beasley, Ed Clark, Leslie Hewitt, Faith Ringgold, Tschabalala Self, Xaviera Simmons and Juana Valdes, among several others. The title of the exhibition points to the idea of various, distinct artistic voices coming together in a spirit of harmony and solidarity.

Pérez Art Museum Miami has a proud 35-year history of presenting modern and contemporary art by individuals affiliated with underrepresented communities hailing from the U.S., Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and the Ambassador’s Fund for African American Art builds on that tradition.