New Miami Art Museum Director Thom Collins looks to have one of the most exciting and challenging jobs in the art world today.
On the one hand, he’s head of the largest arts institutions in a region that is quickly becoming recognized for its artistic prowess and innovation.
On the other, he’s trying to get acclimated to this city, grab the reins of the museum’s current day-to-day operations, all while overseeing construction and fundraising for museum’s new building in Bicentennial Park.
The museum, he said has so far raised $30.9 million of the necessary $48.1 million in private funds and Mr. Collins said the rest should pour in as Miamians begin seeing the form of the new building take shape downtown.
And that new building won’t only be a place for art exhibits but also somewhere that will foster experimentation in the arts and also serve as place for discourse for the countless subcommittees within the area.
Miami is “a city that looks in terms of it's demographics like a lot of cities in the United States will look in the not-too-distant future,” Mr. Collins said. “So here you have this perfect opportunity to build a whole art institution not just a facility, but all of it's programs, it's collections and so forth in a community that demands that we think about what the future of museum practice looks like.”
As he envisions the offerings of the new building, he’s also out rubbing shoulders with the many arts collectors, enthusiasts and donors in the city, something he called a second full-time job.
“I think people probably don't recognize the extent to which at 5 p.m. this actually begins,” he said. “You know so much of what this job is, is again about networking and developing relationships and that doesn't happen between 9 and 5. That's when the nuts and bolts work gets done.”
With what appears to be three full-time jobs, it’s no surprise he said he actually has to make time to sleep.
Mr. Collins was interviewed in Miami Art Museum by Miami Today staff writer Zachary S. Fagenson.