Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami

State-of-the-art contemporary collection
Noteworthy for: The museum has moveable walls allowing curators to tailor viewing space to each exhibition or installation.

Talk of the town: In 2012, MOCA was awarded the prestigious National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor awarded to museums and libraries for service to the community.
It may be slightly too far north, but the journey is worth it to visit what is known as Miami's strongest contemporary art museum, with continuous major exhibitions throughout the year. Internationally recognized as a defining force in the contemporary art world, this is where you'll find the big hit shows like Ed Ruscha, Salvador Dali and Tracy Emin.

Housed in a state-of-the-art building designed by Charles Gwathmey, the 7,500 square foot main gallery includes exhibits on everything from Mexican modernism to animation. A separate exhibition area shows work from local emerging artists.

Their outreach programs are worth checking out too, which makes art accessible and digestible for all ages and knowledge levels. It serves more than 20,000 children, teens and adults every year, with an innovative and inspiring schedule of workshops, art classes, figure drawing, screenings, seminars and more. There's also a free jazz concert the last Friday of every month (8pm), when the museum stays open late (7pm - 10pm).