Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at Miami Dade College

Arts & Culture

The Museum of Art and Design is Miami Dade College's contemporary art museum dedicated to the exhibition of visual art and design. MOAD is located within the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami, which is a National Historic Landmark. Visitors to the museum will view unique exhibits which are anchored in history, education, and culture. The programs offered by MOAD enhance both the lives of Miami locals and visits to the Miami area. The Freedom Tower is also home to an expansive permanent art collection, archives, and newly established design collection.

Built in 1925 to house Miami's first newspaper, MDC’s National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower has stood as a model symbolizing freedom ever since. The Freedom Tower is home not only to MOAD, but also to the MDC Special Collections, which include the Cuban Legacy Gallery, the Kislak Center, and the Exile Experience.

From 1962 to 1974, the Freedom Tower served as the Cuban Assistance Center, where assistance was given to hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees entering the United States. These immigrants brought with them rich cultural traditions, which have helped shape Miami into what it is today. After several years of neglect, leaders from the Cuban American community stepped in to save the Freedom Tower in order to honor the Cuban history in Miami, and then in 2005, generously donated it to Miami Dade College.

Check out MOAD Talks on Youtube.

Watch Our Best Videos

John Copeland, the GMCVB's Director of Cultural Tourism shares his visit to MOAD.

Constructed Color, an exhibition by Loriel Beltrán, the Miami-based Venezuelan American artist and alumnus of the New World School of the Arts at MDC, features recent paintings. Affixing slabs of layered paint, sliced from blocks hardened in boxlike molds, to panels, the artist creates innovative abstract works of dazzling opticality and metaphorical density.

In this video, filmed at MDC's Kendall Campus, Rafael Domenech speaks about Estuary [Pavilion for MOAD], a work that functions on multiple levels—as a public sculpture, a reflection on the written word, a platform for live performances and public gatherings, and a meditative environment. Estuary is made from everyday construction materials, such as aluminum framing, and can mutate into a variety of distinct spatial configurations. Large panels or “pages” of construction mesh feature laser-cut texts that will change throughout the duration of the project.