Travelers walking through Concourse D at Miami International Airport can now take a short tour of the city they just landed in. Miami, The Magic City, a photography exhibition marking 130 years since the City of Miami incorporated in 1896, opened at the airport's Gate D31 Gallery this week and stays up through February 2027.

The show is a partnership between MIA and the Museum of Miami, and every image in it comes from the museum's own archive of more than two million historical photographs. County officials marked the opening with a reception at the airport on Oct. 29.

What is on the walls

The photographs run from the city's incorporation through the 1980s, and they follow Miami from a pioneer settlement to an international destination. The airport lists the themes the exhibition covers: the city's growth, its recovery from natural disasters, its rise as a tourist destination and its development as an international gateway. It also takes in civil demonstrations, historic preservation and the immigrants and refugees who helped build the community.

Among the images the airport names:

  • Muhammad Ali training at the 5th Street Gym
  • Cuban and Haitian refugees arriving in Miami
  • Gloria and Emilio Estefan
  • The cast of Miami Vice
  • The aftermath of the 1926 hurricane
  • Pan American Airways seaplanes at Dinner Key

Who was there

MIA Director and CEO Ralph Cutié hosted the opening reception with Ashlee Thomas, director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; Natalia Crujeiras, CEO of the Museum of Miami; and Paul S. George, the museum's resident historian. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in the airport's announcement that the photographs tell the story of a city built by people who arrived from around the world, and that the airport is a fitting place to share it with travelers.

Crujeiras said the show is part of the museum's new Museum Without Walls strategy, which takes the institution's collection out of its downtown building and into places where people live, work and travel. She pointed out that Miami has always been a city of arrivals, which is why an airport concourse suits this particular story.

About the gallery

MIA Galleries dates to 1996 and is run by the airport's Fine Arts and Cultural Affairs Division. Its exhibitions rotate through spaces in the terminals, and the airport describes their purpose as presenting the culture, landscape and artists of South Florida to the people passing through. The Gate D31 Gallery sits beside gate D31 in Concourse D, which is inside the security checkpoint, so the show is seen by ticketed passengers on their way to or from a flight.

How to see more

For anyone not flying before February, the source of the show is downtown. The Museum of Miami, a Smithsonian Affiliate, holds more than 40,000 three-dimensional artifacts alongside its photograph collection, from prehistoric archaeological finds to 20th-century Afro-Cuban ritual objects. Hours and tickets are on the museum's website, museumofmiami.org.

Miami, The Magic City is on view at MIA's Gate D31 Gallery, Concourse D, through February 2027. It is free to anyone passing through the concourse.

Sources