Jorge M. Pérez launches two unrestricted cash prizes for Florida and Latin American artists

Miami real estate magnate and collector Jorge M. Pérez, president of Related Group and namesake of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), has established two new art awards in collaboration with the National YoungArts Foundation and PAMM. The Jorge M. Pérez Award grants $25,000 to a visual arts alumnus of YoungArts, while the Jorge and Darlene Pérez Award offers $50,000 to an artist selected by PAMM. Both prizes come with no restrictions on how the money is spent. The first Jorge M. Pérez Award winners are Miami-born designer Chat Travieso and painter Kathia St. Hilaire, now based in New York and Connecticut respectively. The Jorge and Darlene Pérez Award recipient will be announced in March at PAMM's annual Art of the Party gala. Patti Hannah, Pérez's lead curator and artistic director of his real estate firm, told ARTnews that the goal is to put Miami and PAMM in conversation with major prizes like the Turner Prize and Hugo Boss Prize, drawing international attention to Florida's cultural scene.