Coral Gables Museum

07/14/2025

The Miami Daily News Building, aka the Freedom Tower, at night (1925)

Completed in 1925, the Miami Daily News Building—now famously known as the Freedom Tower—was originally built to house the city’s largest newspaper. This nighttime photo from its early days shows the building glowing like a beacon in downtown Miami. Its Mediterranean Revival architecture stood out against the skyline, inspired by the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. Over time, the building took on new meaning as a processing center for Cuban refugees during the 1960s, earning its current name. Today, it's a powerful symbol of both Miami’s architectural legacy and its deep ties to immigration and freedom.

07/11/2025

🚨🎻 MISO’s performance scheduled for tomorrow at 4 PM during Family Day has been postponed. The Museum will be open and all other Family Day activities will go on as planned. Stay tuned to our channels as we’ll be sharing the new date soon!

07/10/2025

✨💯 Leave your mark on a place that preserves the past and inspires the future. Through the Brick by Brick Centennial Campaign, you can dedicate a custom-engraved brick that honors your story, your family, or someone meaningful in your life.

Your brick will be placed on the historic grounds of the Coral Gables Museum, housed in a 1938 coral rock building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It’s a personal way to celebrate what matters and be part of something lasting.

🔗 Learn more and name your brick now: https://coralgablesmuseum.org/project/brick-by-brick/

07/09/2025

🎨🌎 Enjoy a vibrant, family-friendly Saturday at CGM with a special edition of Family Day, presented in partnership with A Cleaner Planet, a Miami-based nonprofit inspiring environmental awareness through creative reuse. Discover engaging hands-on workshops that turn everyday discarded materials into imaginative art projects, sparking dialogue around sustainability and creativity.

📅 Sat, Jul 12
🕙 10 AM – 6 PM⁠

🎻To make the day even more memorable, a live chamber performance by members of the Miami Symphony Orchestra will take place at 4 PM, offering an inspiring musical experience in a welcoming, community-focused space.

Free admission. All ages welcome.

07/08/2025

💬 Join us for the next edition of OPEN STUDIO, a free creative session curated in collaboration with The Things Lab. This edition features transdisciplinary artist Dimitry Saïd Chamy, known for blending design, storytelling, and generative systems.

You're invited to bring your phone or tablet with photos of yourself, loved ones, pets, or large objects that hold meaning. Dimitry also encourages you to bring small items to share for inclusion in a collaboratively created alphabet and digital font.

Dimitry Saïd Chamy is a q***r Haitian-Lebanese artist, designer, and cultural producer whose work explores loss, connection, and potential futures. Drawing on his love of nature, science, and play, he has exhibited internationally at venues including Locust Projects and New York Fashion Week. He holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale and is Co-Founder and Resident Artist at FIU’s Ratcliffe Art & Design Incubator.

The evening includes an open bar hour with LALO Tequila between 6–7pm and a cash bar for wine and beer. Young Associates receive an extra complimentary drink of LALO Tequila.

It is open to adults 18 and older. No experience is needed, just curiosity and something you're ready to share!

📅 Wed, July 16
🕐️ 6 – 8:30 PM
🔗 RSVP at coralgablesmuseum.org/coral-gables-museum-open-studio/

07/07/2025

👨‍🚒 Just below the firefighter sculptures on the Salzedo Street façade of the CGM, a limestone relief shows a family composed of a mother, a father, two children, a baby, and three pets. These figures represent the community protected by the firemen above and were created by 22-year-old WPA artist Theresa Jon Keller, who also sculpted the firefighter keystones.

The presence of animals reflects Keller’s style and adds warmth to the building’s design. While the upper sculptures honor civic duty, the family scene introduces a more intimate layer that highlights the human side of public service.

This visual story continues inside the Museum through the exhibition Coral Gables Fire: A Century of Service, on view through September 21. The show explores the history and legacy of the city’s fire department, from daily work to heroic moments.

07/03/2025

🎆 Looking to explore something meaningful this Independence Day? Step inside the CGM, a gateway into the civic and architectural vision that shaped the City Beautiful, and a cultural destination recognized by TripExpert as one of the top experiences in South Florida.

🏛️ We’ll be open during regular hours this July 4 with these exhibitions waiting for you:

⭐️ La Giralda: Transformation, Influence, Restoration
Discover how La Giralda reflects Coral Gables’ connection to Seville through architecture and restoration.

🚒 Coral Gables Fire Department at 100
Celebrate a century of service and trace the department’s evolving role in the city’s history.

📜 Dreaming Coral Gables
Learn about the life and vision of George Merrick, the founder who imagined a city like no other.

07/01/2025

Missed the live event? The full lecture by Martínez Moya on La Giralda’s restoration is now available on our YouTube channel. Discover how one of Spain’s most iconic landmarks was preserved for future generations, as told by the architect behind the project. This talk adds depth and context to the exhibition "La Giralda: Transformation, Influence, Restoration", now on view at CGM.

This lecture by architect Eduardo Martínez Moya focuses on the recent restoration of La Giralda, the iconic bell tower of Seville Cathedral. The presentation...

06/30/2025

SFSO piano trio gives rousing reading of late Schubert trio June 20, 2025 By Palm Beach Arts Paper shares Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Print Email Claude Debussy in 1884, by Marcel Baschet. (Wikimedia Commons) By Robert Croan Franz Schubert’s two late-in-life piano trios, both composed in 182...

06/30/2025

The first OPEN STUDIO at CGM revealed how effortlessly creativity emerges when the right space invites it ✨ Participants transformed everyday objects into personal expressions, sharing stories and exploring new ways of making. No art background needed, just curiosity 🤓💡

🌸 🎶 We’re excited to welcome you back for the second edition with interdisciplinary artist Juraj Kojš. In this session, you’ll explore sound and memory using objects like CDs, speakers, cassettes, megaphones, and even orchids, transforming them into sculptural forms that tell stories through material and resonance.

Presented in collaboration with The Things Lab, Open Studio is a free hands-on session for adults 18+ that encourages material exploration and creative experimentation in a welcoming, informal setting.

📅 Wed, Jul 2
🕕 6-8:30 PM
🍸 Open bar with LALO Tequila from 6 to 7 PM + complimentary cocktail for Young Associates
🔗 RSVP at coralgablesmuseum.org

Don’t miss it!

06/28/2025

✨ Commemorate 100 Years of Coral Gables and celebrate your connection to the city by dedicating a personalized engraved brick that honors your story, family, business, or someone who made a lasting impact.

🏛️ Your brick becomes part of the Museum’s grounds, located in a historic 1938 coral rock building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a cherished cultural landmark welcoming thousands of visitors annually.

📍 Bricks are placed in key locations to maximize visibility:

Inner Courtyard (visible during regular hours)
Outer Courtyard (visible during regular hours)
Museum Plaza (visible at all times)

💖 Proceeds from this campaign help support the continued preservation of this historic site, fund important exhibitions, and provide educational programs for the community.

🔗 Learn more and place your brick today: https://coralgablesmuseum.org/project/brick-by-brick/