By Paul Rubio
Skipping fun-in-the-sun for cultural enrichment can be a tough sell in Miami Beach. Fortunately for visitors, the city’s top museums have recently amplified their nighttime programming so they’re no longer just a daytime affair.
From dazzling, multi-sensory laser light shows in one of America’s most state-of-the-art planetariums, to the be-all-end-all of costume parties in a historic, 16th-century bayfront estate, Miami’s museums are carving a niche in the local nightlife scene. Here, a handful of nights at the museum—some monthly, some annual—you won’t want to miss in the months ahead.
Laser Fridays at Frost Science
More than 300 million dollars in the making, Miami’s just-opened Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science makes science exciting and approachable for all ages. Adults, especially, will appreciate Frost putting a new-fashioned spin on an old-fashioned favorite. Please welcome back the classic laser light shows that maintained a cult following at Miami’s former Museum of Science until closing. Now, these totally tubular, one-hour ocular spectacles are cast across Frost Planetarium’s 67-foot dome (utilizing a 16-million-color, 8K projection system) as the beats of artists like Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, and Pink Floyd blast through the 360-degree sub-woofers.
Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
Cost: $10 per adult; $8 per child. Purchase in advance online.
frostscience.org/exhibition/planetarium/laser-fridays/
Photo: Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
Jazz at MOCA
On the last Friday of every month, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA) opens its door to the public free of charge for its monthly concert series, Jazz at MOCA, featuring noted international and American jazz artists (Brazilian sensation Marcos Ariel hits the stage on October 27th). Rain or shine, concerts begin promptly at 8 pm, and the MOCA galleries open an hour before show time and stay open during and shortly after performances (for those who like a side of art with their jazz).
Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
Cost: Free; no advance tickets necessary.
mocanomi.org/category/programs/jazz-at-moca/
Photo: Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
Thursday Nights at PAMM
Downtown Miami’s Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is a daytime affair—except on Thursdays. Once a week, the high-design architectural masterpiece overlooking Biscayne Bay—and all its 120,000-square-foot excess—remains open three extra hours, from 6pm to 9pm, giving more time to peruse new exhibitions and multicultural art from the 20th and 21st centuries (plus, eat and drink at the sleek Verde waterfront restaurant and bar). For the maximum experience, come on the first Thursday of the month, “PAMM Free First Thursdays,” when the museum opens to the public free of charge and puts on a stellar program of performances, screenings, and pop-up exhibits.
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Cost: First Thursdays are free. Others are $16 per adult;
$12 per child ages 7 to 18; free for children under 6.
pamm.org
Photo: Pérez Art Museum Miami
Featured photo courtesy of: Pérez Art Museum Miami
About the Contributor
Travel journalist Paul Rubio is a Miami native who has lived in nine countries and traveled to 110 (and counting). Rubio’s writing appears in Condé Nast Traveler, LUXURY, Robb Report, Private Clubs, and ultratravel.