Art Deco Museum & Welcome Center
The Art Deco Museum and Welcome Center isn’t just a place to learn — it’s where Miami Beach comes alive. Housed in the historic 10th Street Auditorium (1954), this is your first stop, your orientation point, your gateway to one of the most visually extraordinary cities in the world.
Inside, you’ll discover the architectural forces that shaped Miami Beach — Mediterranean Revival, Art Deco, and Miami Modern (MiMo) — brought to life through scale models, rotating exhibits, and the kind of storytelling that makes history feel urgent. The Miami Beach Visual Memoirs project captures the voices of real people who lived it, built it, and loved it. MDPL’s own preservation legacy is on full display, reminding you that what you see outside these walls exists because someone fought to protect it.
The Welcome Center lobby is warm, welcoming, and packed with inspiration — brochures, event guides, and a friendly concierge ready to help you book hotels, tours, and adventures across Miami Beach.
This is also home to the Miami Design Preservation League — the organization that has championed this city’s soul for over 50 years.
Come curious. Leave obsessed.
Current Exhibits
Lost Hohauser
Henry Hohauser arrived in Miami Beach in 1932 and never stopped building. Over three decades, he designed more than 300 structures — hotels, apartments, storefronts, theaters — leaving behind the streamlined curves, stepped rooflines, and neon glow that define South Beach’s iconic look today. One prolific architect. An entire city’s identity.
This exhibit highlights the work of one of the most prolific architects of the Art Deco period in Miami Beach. It coincided with the Art Deco Centennial of 2025, celebrating 100 years since the Paris Exposition on Decorative Arts – widely known as the birthplace of the style.
Featured Local artist
From Ballet Stage to Canvas
Noel Suarez is a Miami-based artist whose work blends classical and modern influences, particularly Art Deco figurative Cubism inspired by Tamara de Lempicka. Born into a family of artists in Cuba, he trained in ballet at Havana’s San Alejandro Academy before retiring from dance at 30 to focus fully on painting, having designed sets and costumes along the way.
His commissions span major names and institutions: Absolut Vodka, the cities of Boston and Miami Beach, Ritz Plaza Hotel murals, Grove Isle Hotel, and Paradise Point Resort in San Diego. He’s created portraits for cultural figures like Eartha Kitt and Patricia Field, and designed sets for the National Ballet of Cuba’s “Cecilia Valdez.” Much of his career has centered on AIDS-related fundraising, including work for DIFFA New York, Miami’s White Party, and a panel on the National AIDS Quilt.
He’s collaborated with Romero Britto and the Gucci family, exhibited at the Louvre’s Carrousel and Miami’s Art Basel, and been featured in publications like “100 Contemporary Artists of the World.” Miami Beach honored him with a “Theatre Visionary Award” and declared November 17 “Noel Suarez Day,” reflecting his deep ties to the city’s art scene.
Discover Noel’s work in person at the Art Deco Museum & Welcome Center — where his paintings live alongside the history that inspires them. Stop by on your next Miami Beach visit and see why his art keeps evolving, one masterpiece at a time.
Museum Permanent Exhibits
Miami Design Styles
Three bold styles. One iconic skyline. Discover the architecture that turned Miami Beach into the world’s most stylish address.
The Art Deco Gift Shop
Shop Like It's 1939
Before you leave, make sure you stop in.
The Art Deco Gift Shop is a treasure hunt dressed up in pastels and neon — the kind of place where you pick up one thing and walk out with five. Browse shelves stocked with books on Miami Beach architecture and history, original artwork and prints by local artists, vintage-inspired jewelry, and an eclectic mix of collectibles that range from kitschy-fun to genuinely rare. Postcards, posters, magnets, mugs, tote bags, and Art Deco Weekend keepsakes make perfect souvenirs — or gifts for the person back home who wishes they’d come with you.
The Vintage & Collectibles section is its own rabbit hole, with period pieces, curiosities, and one-of-a-kind finds that serious collectors will appreciate. And yes, the display counter is absolutely as good as it looks.
Everything here is a little piece of Miami Beach to carry with you.