The “Open Letter,” signed to date by 182 individuals, and the ‘keep MAC alive!’ site have generated local newspaper coverage in the Miami Sun Post, the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, as well as national coverage by the leading art blog in the U.S., Tyler Green’s Modern Art Notes. As of March 5th, ‘keep MAC alive!’ had received 1578 unique visits in response to e-mails and referrals from art blog sites, including Modern Art Notes, Critical Miami, The Next Few Hours and others.

In response to the “Open Letter,” MAM officials have affirmed in comments to the Miami Herald and in e-mail correspondence received by ‘keep MAC alive!’ that they intend to respond in writing to those who signed the letter. Currently MAC and MAM are said to be in negotiations to determine the details of their merger, including the fate of MAC exhibitions and programming. So far, no accouncement has been forthcoming and ‘keep MAC alive!’ and the signators of the “Open Letter” are still awaiting a written response.

To: Board of Trustees 2005-2006, Miami Art Museum (MAM)
      c/o Terence Riley, Director, Miami Art Museum (MAM)

We, the undersigned, having been made aware through recent news reports of the merger of Miami Art Museum (MAM) and Miami Art Central (MAC), would like to bring to the attention of MAM’s Trustees the level of appreciation we share for the outstanding quality and scope of MAC’s achievements and contributions to our community since its founding in 2003.

At the same time, we would like to express our deep concern over the prospect that the internationally distinguished exhibitions and programs developed at MAC may be compromised as a result of the merger of the two institutions. Our community has benefited enormously from the scope and quality of MAC’s acclaimed exhibitions and educational programs, the product of the creativity and hard work of its Executive Director and Chief Curator Rina Carvajal and her talented staff, with the generosity of MAC’s founder, Ella Fontanals Cisneros.

Over the past three years, the program at MAC has consistently been at the forefront of art museums in Miami and, with the end of exhibitions and related programming at MAC’s Red Road facilities scheduled for late-April, we foresee a serious vacuum that could undermine our city’s reputation as a burgeoning center for the visual arts.

Since it has now been made clear that “MAC is MAM,” we are directing ourselves to you as the custodians of MAC in the hope that you will act to ensure that MAC and its legacy are kept alive and that its world-class exhibition program be continued and fostered under the auspices of MAM, to the benefit of our community and the credit of your institution.

Signatures as of Feb. 27th:

Harumi Abe, Maria Cristina Abello, Diane L. Ackerman, Mercedes Amaro-Hernandez, Dale & Doug Anderson, Mary E. Anderson, Claudia Ariano, Dennis Balk, Roland Ballester, Paco Barragan, Bhakti Baxter, Natalia Benedetti, Sandra Bermudez, Norma Bessouet, Carlos Betancourt, Carolina Bilbao, Arielle Biscayart, Maria Bixby, Maria Bonta de la Pezuela, Jesse Bransford, Pip Brant, Tanyac Brillembourg C., Hollie Butler Lytle, Fernando Calzadilla, Kayleigh Campagna, Francisco Canestri, Susan M. Canning, Miguel Cano, Pablo Cano, Amalia Caputo, Mariangela Capuzzo, Rebecca P. Carballo, Hernan Carrara, Consuelo Castañeda, Benoist Castera, Claudio Castillo, Vicki Cerda, Angelica Clyman, Lou Anne Colodny, Silvia Karman Cubina, Carol Damian, Daswell Davis, Carlos de la Cruz Sr., Rosa de la Cruz, Blane De St Croix, Amy N. Dean, Cristina Delgado, Jose Diaz, Danilo Dueñas, Natasha Duwin, Alan Farago, Veronica Fazzio, Debra Frank, Tobias Franoszek, Dara Friedman, Julia Frometa, Vanessa Fuelling, Andreina Fuentes, Lissette Garcia, Lynne Gelfman, Susanne Ghez, Al Gillio, Marcelo Gomes, Georgina Gomez, Heidi Gomez, Mario Gonzalez III, John K. Grande, Giovanni Grimaldi, Adler Guerrier, Aramis Gutierrez II, Nicolás J. Gutiérrez, Mark Handforth, Elizabeth Hanly, Lydia Harrison, Bernadine Heller-Greenman, Jose Herrera, Keyvan Heydari, Margaret Hooks, Kathleen Hudspeth, Elaiza Irizarry, Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Catalina Jaramillo, Carol Jazzar, Ana Kamiar, Konstantia Kontaxis, Alexandra Kuechenberg, Susan Lee-Chun, Adam Lerner, Ed Levine, Jacqueline Lipsky, Monica & Tasha Lopez De Victoria (TM Sisters), Tiana Madera, Kari Madera, Lourdes Manach, Rosario Marquardt & Roberto Bejar, Maria Martinez-Cañas, Richard S. Massey, Gustavo Matamoros, Park McArthur, P J Mills, Venessa Monokian, Beatriz Monteavaro, Kathryn R. Moore, Gean Moreno, Lena Moreno, Arturo F. Mosquera, Liza C. Mosquera, Charles Huntley Nelson, Erich B. Neumann, William J. O’Brien, Alvaro Ordoñez, Yeraldine Ordoñez, Gonzalo Parodi, Stephan Pascher, Erika Pastoriza, Gilberto Pastoriza, Sabrina Pena, S. Pena Young, Yudit Perez, Gavin Perry, Vickie Pierre, Annelliesse V Pop, Simone Porto, Ali Prosch, Sandra Puello, Risa Puleo, Stefanie Reed, Gary & Vanessa Ressler, Inma Roca, Carmen Rodriguez, Julio Rodriguez, Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, Luis Roldan, Adiso Ross, A.A. Rucci, Adriana Riquet Sabino, Silvia Sabino, Claudio Sabino, Gilda Sacasas, Michelle E. Sague, Heriberto Sanchez, George Sanchez-Calderon, Laura Santamaria, Ana Maria Sarlat, Veronica Scharff Garcia, Gretchen Scharnagl, Tom Schmitt, Michael Sellinger, Onajide Shabaka, Cook Shaw, John David Shaw, Annhy Shim, Diana Shpungin, Jennifer Lynne Sirey, Fred & Kathy Snitzer, Gisela Sotelo, Alison Spear, Jennifer Stark, Sara Stites, Terrie Sultan, Ami Tallman, Michael Tangeman, Cesar Trasobares, Alfredo Triff, Frances Trombly, Heather Urban, Lisa Versaci, Cristina Villamil, Daniel Viñoly, Keith D. Waddington, Neil Watson, Joel Weinstein, Philip Michael Wolfson, Michael Workman, Bia Wouk, Letícia Wouk Almino de Souza, Ibett Yanez, Nathan Young.

Original letter delivered on Feb. 7th, now approaching 200 signatures …

Art deal: Museum, collector to try merger
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16243534.htm