The Rubell Family has revealed that it will move its contemporary art collection of 7,200 works by more than one thousand artists—including Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, William Kentridge, Cindy Sherman, and Mickalene Thomas—to a new 100,000-square-foot facility in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami in December.
Don and Mera Rubell started collecting fifty-four years ago. Since they acquired their first piece in 1965, they have focused on amassing works by overlooked artists and have shared their passion for art with their son, Jason. Together they opened the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Art Foundation in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami in 1993.
The move to 1100 Northwest Twenty-Third Street in Allapattah will allow the Rubells to display more of their works in the facility’s 53,000-square-feet of exhibition space. Sixty-five percent of the galleries will be dedicated to long-term installations and 35 percent will be for special exhibitions. Eighty percent of the new venue, which will be renamed the Rubell Museum, will be accessible to the public.
Housed in a former industrial warehouse, the museum will be designed by Selldorf Architects and will also include an art research library containing 40,000 volumes, a museum store, and restaurant. The institution will be led by Juan Roselione-Valadez who worked with the Rubells for more than two decades. The December 4 opening of the museum will coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach.
