Franklin Sirmans[1] (born in New York City (Queens))[2] is an American art critic, editor, writer, curator[1] and has been the director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)[3] since October 2015.[4] His initiatives there include ensuring that PAMM's art program reflects the community in Miami and securing donations. In his first six months at PAMM, he managed to secure the largest donation of works in the museum's short history, over a hundred pieces of art were donated by Design District developer Craig Robins.[5]
Early on in his career, Sirmans worked at the Dia Art Foundation in publications (1993–1996).[6] He curated annual exhibitions for Los Angeles (1999), Atlanta (2003) and Baltimore (2005) as well as the shows Americas Remixed in Milan, Italy; Mass Appeal in Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Sackville, Canada[2] and a Moment's Notice at the Inman Gallery, Houston, Texas in 2002.[7] From 2001 until 2003 he curated One Planet Under A Groove: Contemporary Art and Hip Hop at the Bronx Museum of Art; the Spelman College Art Gallery, Atlanta; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis[8] and the Villa Stuck in Munich, Germany.[9]
There he curated NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith, Steve Wolfe: Works on Paper and Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster, 1964–1966.
In 2010, he moved to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as department head and curator of contemporary art where he remained until the fall of 2015.[3] During his time with the LACMA, he curated Maurizio Cattelan: Is There Life Before Death? (2010),[11]Fútbol: The Beautiful Game (2014),[6]Noah Purifoy: Junk Dada, Variations: Conversations in and Around Abstract Painting, Ends and Exits: Contemporary Art from the Collections of LACMA and the Broad Art Foundation, and was co-organizer of the exhibition Human Nature: Contemporary Art from the Collection.[3] In addition he was co-curator of Make It Now: New Sculpture in New York at Sculpture Center.[2]
Since October 2015,[4] he has been the director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).[3][12]
In 2019 he was selected as curate to a special section of Frieze New York, which shows artists from Just Above Midtown (JAM), the 1970s-80s Black Power Gallery.[13]