Franklin Sirmans has been the Director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) since 2015. Prior to joining PAMM, he was the Department Head and Curator of Contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 2010 until 2015. At LACMA Sirmans organized Noah Purifoy: Junk Dada, Variations: Conversations in and Around Abstract Painting, and Futbol: The Beautiful Game, among many other exhibitions. From 2006 to 2010, he was Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Menil Collection in Houston where he organized several exhibitions including NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith, Steve Wolfe: Works on Paper, Maurizio Cattelan: Is There Life Before Death? and Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster, 1964-1966. In 2009 Sirmans was awarded the Gold Rush Award by the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, he was the winner of the 2007 David C. Driskell Prize, and artistic director of Prospect.3 New Orleans from 2012-2014.
Franklin Sirmans
“The Foundation’s commitment to supporting artists by funding the institutions that incubate, encourage, exhibit and critically engage their work is unwavering. Non-profit arts organizations face profound challenges due to the political, economic, social and cultural upheavals of our current moment. At the same time, and more than ever, artists need the supportive community and creative encouragement that these organizations provide.”
Joel Wachs, President