Pick a side: the clamor of the stadium or the calm of the museum. Are you Team Sports or Team Arts? At the P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), \u201cGet in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture\u201d challenges the age-old divide to bridge the cultural gap between the two.<\/p>\n
The exhibition aims to reconcile the athlete\u2019s arena and the artist\u2019s studio and serves as a reminder that whether someone wears a jersey or a museum wristband, the quest for excellence remains the same.<\/p>\n
On display through Sunday, Aug. 23, \u201cGet in the Game\u201d features more than 100 works by artists from around the world and showcases sports memorabilia, including vintage sneakers, racing equipment, and F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s World Cup soccer balls from 1930 to 2023.<\/p>\n
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Featuring more than 100 works by artists from around the world\u2014including highlights from PAMM\u2019s collection\u2014\u201dGet in the Game\u201d demonstrates how sport has inspired both personal expression and shared cultural memory. On display at PAMM through Sunday, Aug. 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Lazaro Llanes, Courtesy of P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami)<\/p>\n
Organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and presented in Miami with locally focused additions, the exhibition arrives in the wake of events like the Miami Open and as the Magic City continues to host global spectacles such as Formula 1 in May while preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium in July.<\/p>\n
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Franklin Sirmans, director of P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami and organizer of the museum\u2019s presentation of \u201cGet in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Lazaro Llanes, Courtesy of P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami)<\/p>\n
Franklin Sirmans, PAMM\u2019s director and organizer of the museum\u2019s presentation, believes the timing adds to its significance. \u201cI think sports and arts deserve deeper exploration in museum exhibitions,\u201d he says. \u201cThis show is at PAMM in a year of unprecedented presentations of sport on the national and world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sees the exhibition not just in terms of what spectators witness on the field, court, or track, but also in how those events resonate in memory and imagination. \u201cThe exhibition pauses and creates space for conversations and reflections on how these events impact us,\u201d Sirmans explains.<\/p>\n
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Especially visible in the display are World Cup soccer balls produced by Adidas, stretching from the early leather era to highly engineered contemporary designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Jonel Juste)<\/p>\n
Fabiana A. Sotillo, a curatorial assistant and co-curator of PAMM\u2019s show, says her outsider perspective on sports shaped how the exhibition was recontextualized for local audiences. \u201cWhen I started working on the presentation of \u2018Get in the Game\u2019 at PAMM with Franklin, I was aware that this show would be a challenge for me due to the fact that I am not as knowledgeable about sports as Franklin is,\u201d she shares. \u201cHowever, what I thought would be a disadvantage for us ended up being a very valuable aspect of our presentation in Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the curator and writer of the exhibition\u2019s materials, Sotillo explains that her unfamiliarity allowed her to consider visitors who might feel intimidated by sports, as well as those who might feel they would be out of place in a contemporary art museum. \u201cMy lack of sports knowledge ended up being an advantage, since I really catered the exhibition materials to those who may be intimidated by the idea of sports, but also considered the other side of the coin: those who might be intimidated by art,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were able to build a presentation that truly caters to every type of visitor: sports fans, art admirers, young visitors, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, the exhibition is divided into six thematic sections: Fandom, Winning and Losing, Breaking Records and Rules, Count Me In, Field of Play, and Mind and Body. Sotillo emphasizes the goal is not to dictate a story but to create a space where viewers can connect with both fields without needing any prior expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports, arts, culture \u2014 these are all community builders,\u201d Sotillo says. \u201cBoth athletes and fans experience such intense emotions during competitions, and art is all about capturing emotions and expressing ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Emma Amos\u2019 \u201cHurdlers I\u201d (1983) blends painting and textile, depicting women athletes in mid-leap while incorporating handwoven elements that reference African kente cloth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Lazaro Llanes, Courtesy of P\u00e9rez Art Miami Museum)<\/p>\n
This focus on emotion appears in works like Ernie Barnes\u2019 \u201cFumble in the Line\u201d (1990), which depicts football players in exaggerated, almost sculptural forms. Their bodies collide in a chaotic struggle that reflects both the brutality and beauty of the game. Barnes, a former professional football player, is known for translating his personal experiences into art that highlights movement, tension, and rhythm.<\/p>\n
Emma Amos\u2019 \u201cHurdlers I\u201d (1983) blends painting with textiles, showing women athletes mid-leap while incorporating handwoven elements that reference African kente cloth. The piece links physical endurance with cultural identity, considering the show\u2019s broader themes of how sports intersect with race, gender and history.<\/p>\n
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Hank Willis Thomas\u2019 2016 work \u201cGuernica,\u201d a mixed-media work that recreates Pablo Picasso\u2019s famous antiwar image with NBA jerseys instead of human figures is featured in \u201cGet in the Games: Sports, Art, Culture,\u201d at P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) through Sunday, Aug. 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York)<\/p>\n
One of the most striking pieces is Hank Willis Thomas\u2019 2016 work \u201cGuernica,\u201d a mixed-media work that recreates Pablo Picasso\u2019s famous antiwar image with NBA jerseys instead of human figures. According to art curator Jason Jenn, this piece prompts the viewer to reflect on how themes of war and sacrifice in the original piece relate to the struggles faced by professional athletes and the challenges they overcome to entertain fans.<\/p>\n
Nearby, Holly Bass\u2019 \u201cNWBA (Jordan)\u201d (2012) captures the artist mid-air, her silhouette transformed with basketballs in a photo that is playful, athletic, glamorous, and critical.<\/p>\n
Bass says the image was inspired by Michael Jordan\u2019s iconic \u201cJump Man\u201d logo, which itself has roots in dance. \u201cIt was originally inspired by a photo of Jordan imitating a ballet dancer doing a grand jet\u00e9,\u201d she says. \u201cSo it\u2019s kind of like art imitating sports imitating art.\u201d She emphasizes that the work\u2019s athleticism is real, not simulated. \u201cThis isn\u2019t Photoshop or some kind of wire suspending me in the air. I\u2019m a trained dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jake Troyli, a professional artist who once played Division I basketball in college said his experience as an athlete led him to think more critically about performance and spectatorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
The exhibition frequently revisits the theme of bodies under pressure, whether in triumph, strain, spectacle, or change. Jake Troyli, a professional artist who lives in Brooklyn and whose work is included in \u201cGet in the Game,\u201d played Division I basketball at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. He says his background in sports has shaped his views on performance and spectatorship. \u201cAs I started to gain some distance between myself and my time playing in the NCAA, I began to turn a critical eye toward the dynamic of the spectator\/spectacle relationship,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat does it mean to perform? What does it mean to perform for a hungry audience? What does it mean for so much of a person\u2019s self or self-worth to be tied up in the results of the performance?\u201d<\/p>\n
These questions extend beyond sports; they also relate to the conditions many artists face, particularly in public forums where creation and judgment feel immediate. This parallel resonates with artist Cheryl Pope, who is both a visual artist and a boxer. Pope, who won the Chicago Golden Gloves in 2014, considers boxing fundamental to her understanding of art. \u201cMy experience of boxing has been critical to my understanding of being an artist,\u201d she says. Training and competition taught her discipline, positive thinking, and how to manage risk, which later informed her studio practice.<\/p>\n
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Ernie Barnes\u2019 \u201cFumble in the Line\u201d (1990), where football players are depicted in exaggerated, almost sculptural forms. \/\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Lazaro Llanes, Courtesy of P\u00e9rez Art Miami Museum)<\/p>\n
The exhibition\u2019s educational programming is also designed to show how sports can connect visitors to museums. Marie Vickles, PAMM\u2019s senior director of education, says the show offers \u201ca really exciting and accessible entry point for visitors of all ages and backgrounds to engage with art via an avenue that everyone is familiar with \u2014 sports.\u201d Her team has organized tours, workshops, public talks, screenings, and hands-on activities aimed at youth, educators, adults, and families.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe universal themes of teamwork, discipline, resilience and perseverance across sports and arts have provided us with ways to craft experiences that make folks feel welcome in a museum,\u201d Vickles says. During the opening week, PAMM hosted the first session of \u201cGAME TIME,\u201d a two-day conference bringing together artists, athletes, poets, curators, journalists, and performers. Sirmans described the gathering as an added layer of interpretation, with a second session planned for Friday, June 26.<\/p>\n
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Lee Moriarty\u2019s \u201cSummer Garden Selfie,\u201d 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Collection P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami, gift of Adam Abdalla)<\/p>\n
Lee Moriarty, a professional wrestler and visual artist who took part in \u201cGAME TIME,\u201d sees a connection that already exists in his own life. \u201cI think both wrestling and art have always been connected and have influenced each other so it\u2019s great to see it being explored deeper,\u201d he says. For Moriarty, wrestling naturally combines sport and art, blending athletic skill with theater, imagery, storytelling, and performance.<\/p>\n
The exhibition also ensures its global perspective reflects Miami. Sirmans noted that the museum included works and references that resonate locally, such as sketches by LeRoy Neiman of Muhammad Ali in Miami Beach and a podcast made with the young girls of Little Haiti Football Club.<\/p>\n
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Work by Cheryl Pope. Top: variety jacket from the series I\u2019VE BEEN HEARD, 2016. Below, customized sneakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Lazaro Llanes, Courtesy of Perez Art Miami Museum)<\/p>\n
These additions help tie the show\u2019s broader themes to local experiences.<\/p>\n
By the time visitors leave PAMM, Sirmans hopes they will no longer view sports and art as separate worlds. \u201cSports and arts are metaphors for our lives and there\u2019s room for all and inspiration to be found in a consideration of games in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
WHAT: \u201cGet in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture\u201d<\/p>\n
WHERE: P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), 1103 Biscayne Blvd, Miami<\/p>\n
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday; 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.<\/p>\n
COST: $18 adults; $14 seniors 62 and older, students with ID, and ages 7 to 18; free for members, children 6 and under, and free admission for all on Thursdays after 5 p.m.; Other free admissions with ID: active U.S. military and veterans, health care professionals and first responders, Florida educators, and visitors identifying as disabled and their accompanying caregiver.<\/p>\n
INFO: (305) 375-3000 or pamm.org<\/a><\/p>\n ArtburstMiami.com<\/a> is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick a side: the clamor of the stadium or the calm of the museum. Are you Team Sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3087,109906,109903,109904,109899,225,227,226,123,109896,109902,109898,109457,109901,110,109900,109897,109905],"class_list":["post-251606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-art","tag-contemporary-art-and-sports-crossover-exhibition","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026-miami-events","tag-formula-1-miami-cultural-exhibitions","tag-get-in-the-game-exhibition","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-miami","tag-miami-art-museum","tag-miami-sports-and-arts-events-2026","tag-prez-art-museum-miami-exhibit","tag-pamm","tag-pamm-sports-culture-exhibit-2026","tag-sports","tag-sports-and-art-culture-miami","tag-sports-art-exhibition","tag-sports-memorabilia-museum-miami-display"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}