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Museum of Contemporary Art
Even though it's opened a satellite gallery in Wynwood, you should still hike waaay up to North Miami to see the excellent collection at the main MoCA building. The sharp, geometric grounds are pleasurable enough, but even better are exhibitions from artists such as Jorge Pardo and Robert Moss and pieces on loan from institutions such as the Tate Modern in London.
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National Hurricane Center
Florida and hurricanes go together like peanut butter and destructive jelly, and this fascinating center is the first line of defense against these devastating storms. Free 40-minute tours are available by appointment only, and document both the drama of hurricanes and the intricacies of storm-tracking, one of the main responsibilities of this facility, located on the campus of Florida International University (FIU).
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Purvis Young Gallery
Vagrant, convict and creator, Purvis Young (1943-) is Overtown's favorite native son. Although his work is dubbed 'outsider' or 'folk' art (ie he didn't go to art school), we'd just classify it as good. His paintings, often done on pieces of wood and carpet sample, portray ink-blotty mothers, horses, angels, African idols and people striving for freedom from an ambiguous captivity, a poignant and well-realized message in studio spaces that abut Miami's poorest neighborhoods.
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Rubell Family Art Collection
The Rubell family - specifically, the niece and nephew of the late Steve, better known as Ian Schrager's Studio 54 partner - operates some top-end hotels in Miami Beach, but they've also amassed an impressive contemporary art compilation that spans the last 30 years. The most admirable quality of this collection is its commitment to not just display one or two of its artists' pieces; rather, the aim is to focus on a contributor's entire career.
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Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
This opulent Italian Renaissance-style villa was built for industrialist James Deering in 1916. The villa brims with 15th- to 19th-century furniture, tapestries, paintings and decorative arts, while the seaside grounds feature splendid gardens, beautiful fountains, sculptures, elegant pools, a charming gazebo, canals running everywhere and lots of trails.
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Wings Over Miami
Plane-spotters will love this Tamiami Airport museum. Highlights include a propeller collection, J47 jet engine and a Soviet bomber from Smolensk. An impressive exhibit on the Tuskegee Airmen features videos of the black pilots telling their own stories. Historic bombers and other craft drop in for occasional visits, so you can never be sure what you'll see.
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Wolfsonian
Even folks bored stiff by rooms full of furniture will want to cultivate some aesthetic space after visiting this excellent design museum, which manages to chronicle the interior evolution of everyday life architecturally manifested by Sobe's exterior deco.
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World Erotic Art Museum
You might be unfazed by the bare flesh on the beach, but there is likely to be something that will faze you at the World Erotic Art Museum, with an amazingly extensive collection of naughty and erotic art, decorative items and even furniture depicting all sorts of parts and acts.
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