Pérez art museum’s attendance stunner

The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) already has welcomed 75% of the visitors it expected its first year – and it just opened in December.

Projections from Massachusetts-based ConsultEcon had estimated 200,000 visitors for the 1103 Biscayne Blvd. museum’s first 12 months. It already has seen 150,000.

“It’s fantastic. We’re very happy… and exhausted,” said Leann Standish, deputy director of external affairs.

Average year projections were 190,000, but in light of the underestimate, the museum will redo them, Ms. Standish said.

These projections, partially based on the old 101 W Flagler St. site, were made in 2008. What couldn’t have been known was the response PAMM has gotten in four months.

“Every time people are here, it’s people that are spreading the word with social media. There’s the #PAMMpics hashtag. People really own this museum,” Ms. Standish said. “I have never seen so much community ownership as there is here.”

Word of mouth, rotating events and programming and the four acres with a terrace all could have contributed, Ms. Standish said. “These are all great problems.”

“On any given day, we’re seeing people sitting on the portico, looking at the water, maybe enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine,” she said.

The museum fields 100 calls a day to reserve space for private events, with the busiest days the free first Thursday and the second Saturday of each month. Weekends are busiest, Tuesdays slowest, although weekdays see more groups, Ms. Standish said.

To accommodate the volume, PAMM has hired a tour coordinator for private tour requests as well as added event and security staff. “Those two staff areas have really come under fire,” she said.

Unsurprisingly, the visitors love to shop. PAMM’s retail shop has had to restock multiple times.