WOLFSONIAN FIU MUSEUM

1001 Washington Avenue
Miami Beach, FL
Phone: (305) 531-1001

Admission: $5 for adults, $3.50 for seniors, students and children ages 6 to 12.

Hours: open from 11a.m.to 6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday. It is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday and closed Wednesday.

Miami business magnate Mitchell Wolfson Jr.’s remarkable 70,000-item collection of American and European fine and decorative art works and crafts from the late 19^th to early 20^th century gives Miami Beach an outstanding and unique museum, a cultural oasis of international importance.

Founded in 1986, The Wolfsonian now is housed in a 1927 Mediterranean-Revival building designed by Edwin Robinson and Lawrence Patterson. After several years of the building being used as a storage facility, it was upgraded and enlarged to its current seven floors and refurbished to its original splendor by architect Mark Hampton in 1992. The Wolfsonian has been a division by Florida International University, the regional state university, since 1997.

The Wolfsonian’s principal focus is American and European cultural history from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Its mission is to show how art and design have evolved and adapted to contemporary society and culture and how design and the visual arts reflect the human experience. The museum offers exhibits, lectures, films, performances and a considerable outreach program with schools and colleges in the community. The Wolfsonian aspires to be one of America’s great museums and a center of art research and study. It has made a phenomenal start in its relatively short history.

The best local parking is in the municipal lot at Collins Avenue and 12^th Street. Cost is $6. Miami Beach’s Electrowave shuttle service stops in front of The Wolfsonian. Cost is 25 cents.

Hint: Save a few bucks. Admission to The Wolfsonian is free from 6 to 9 p.m on Thursdays.