MOAD Art Exhibition Another Reason To Visit Newly Reopened Freedom Tower

The Museum of Art and Design at Miami-Dade College, which has made its home in the Freedom Tower since 2012, returns with a new art exhibition, “We Carry Our Homes With Us,” tying into the building’s legacy as a gateway for migration. (Photo by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy of MOAD)

After a two year, $25 million restoration, Freedom Tower has reopened in downtown Miami just in time for its centennial – and so has its resident art museum. The Museum of Art and Design at Miami-Dade College, which has made its home in the historic landmark since 2012, returns with a new art exhibition tying into the building’s legacy as a gateway for migration.

“We Carry Our Homes With Us” takes its name and concept from the eponymous memoir by Cuban-American author Marisela Vega, who herself came through Freedom Tower with her family upon arriving in the United States, later settling in Minnesota.

Vega’s experience is shared with countless Cuban Americans. According to Maria Carla Chicuen, executive director of cultural affairs for Miami-Dade College, many returning visitors to the tower after its renovation had been processed at the tower through the Cuban Refugee Center in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Several of the works in the show come from artists such as José Bedia, Felix González-Torres, and Ana Mendieta, who were born in Cuba and later immigrated. (Photo by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy of MOAD)

“We have been so excited to see the overwhelming positive response from the community,” she says. “It has been very emotional to see so many people coming in. We’ve had families. We’ve had people who participated in the oral history interviews that we’ve recorded for the past two years and have informed the exhibits. We’ve had everything from tears to people meeting for the first time on a tour and leaving as friends, taking photos together.”

That lived experience also extends to the exhibition itself. Several of the works in the show come from José Bedia, Felix González-Torres, and Ana Mendieta were born in Cuba and later immigrated. But the cast of artists also features non-immigrants such as Rashid Johnson and locals including Tomm El-Saieh, Joel Gaitan, and Yanira Collado.

That diversity is intentional according to Amy Galpin, executive director and head curator of MOAD..

“I wanted to make sure that the exhibition gave a nod to the incredibly powerful history of this space,” she says. “At the same time, I wanted to include a broad cross-section of artists in the exhibition, both artists who live here in Miami and artists who live in other places, and to have a conversation about memory, place, material culture – a lot of the works in the exhibition are tied to material culture in some way.”

“We Carry Our Homes With Us” takes its name from the memoir by Cuban-American author Marisela Vega, who immigrated to the U.S. through Freedom Tower. (Photo by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy of MOAD)

Artworks utilizing physical objects are a key factor in the show, with Galpin wanting to explore the ways in which specific objects are given meaning. Some of these do not relate specifically to migration: One of González-Torres’ famous candy works, consisting of a pile of hard candies that visitors are allowed to take from, features in the show, for instance. González-Torres’ began his “candy works” oeuvre after the death of his partner and the gradual depletion of the candy pile was a metaphor for the deterioration of the body from AIDS. Though often seen as an allegory for the AIDS crisis, in the context of the MOAD show the piece can take on a different interpretation.

Other works such as a Rashid Johnson painting made from wood marked with scorched patterns and tar speak to the ways in which migration can be an involuntary process. The materiality of the work references ships on the Transatlantic slave trade that brought kidnapped Africans to the Americas.

The show also introduces the museum’s redesigned interiors, which were refreshed along with the wider renovation of the building. Floors three and four have been opened as exhibition space for the first time, and new accessibility and wayfinding improvements have been made, including new elevators and staircases.

Declared a National Historic Landmark in 2008, it has gone through several incarnations since it was completed in 1925. Originally the headquarters of the Miami News newspaper, who moved out in 1957, the building earned its current name as headquarters for the Cuban Assistance Program from 1962 to 1974.

Artworks utilizing physical objects are a key factor in the show, with curator Amy Galpin wanting to explore the ways in which specific objects are given meaning. (Photo by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy of MOAD)

The building changed hands and mostly sat derelict until 1997 when it was purchased by controversial businessman and political figure Jorge Mas Canosa, whose death two months later left his son, now-billionaire and Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas Santos, to develop it into a center for Cuban heritage. During this period the building hosted a memorial for legendary salsa singer Celia Cruz, who lay in state there after her death in 2003.

Miami-Dade College took control in 2005, fully restoring the building and converting it into its current form as a home for the college’s cultural programs. Now, after another restoration, the tower is once again ready to become a beacon of both freedom and artistry.

WHAT: “We Carry Our Homes With Us”

 WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Through Jan. 11, 2026.

 WHERE: Museum of Art and Design at Miami-Dade College, Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

 COST: $18 for general admission; $14 for seniors; $12 for students with ID and children ages 7-18; free for MDC students and employees with ID, children 6 and under, active U.S. military and veterans, and disabled visitors and caregivers.

 INFORMATION: 305-237-7700 or moadmdc.org

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