PAMM is #openforkids with Knight Schools Program from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Some 60 third-graders were the first to participate in the Knight Schools Program this week at the new Pérez Art Museum Miami.

The kids, who arrived on school buses from the Irving and Beatrice Peskoe Elementary School in Homestead, Fla., are just a fraction of the 27,000 that will have the opportunity to visit the museum each year for free, thanks to support from Knight Foundation.

Knight’s Vice President of Arts Dennis Scholl and Museum Director Thom Collins welcomed them Tuesday morning. Collins thanked Knight for its support, noting it will “ensure every year, generations of kids growing up here in Miami will have the shared experience of learning about the arts and learning about the world through the arts.”

Following a booming chant of “Open for Kids!” the third-graders set off in small groups to explore the museum with the help of several teaching artists. What ensued was an hour of arts, learning, and of course, fun.

At the Hew Locke “For Those in Peril on the Sea” exhibit, the students engaged in creative storytelling, picking out their favorites boats and making up stories of where they would travel and who they would go with. Hawaii and London were popular destinations.

The students also spent time among pieces from the museum’s permanent contemporary African-American art collection (procured with funds from Knight and Jorge M. Pérez). Perched beneath Al Loving’s “Untitled #32,” they experimented with their own artistic talents, recreating the image with neon construction paper, foam wires and colored masking tape.

Other stops along the way included an exploration of Monika Sosnowska’s site-specific steel and concrete sculptures and Alan McCollum’s “The Shapes Project.”

Of course, Pérez Art Museum Miami has plenty of activities for grown-ups as well. Every third Thursday, the museum brings together DJs and musicians for an outdoor concert series on the terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay. On Thursday, Jan. 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. ET, Laren Halo from Ann Arbor, Mich., will be the guest DJ.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 to 6 p.m. and open late on Thursdays, from 10 to 9 p.m. With support from Knight, the museum is free to the general public the first Thursday of the month. Thanks to the support of Target, the second Saturday of each month is also free and includes family-friendly gallery tours, performances and more.

More information on the museum, tours and upcoming exhibits can be found on its website. You can stay up-to-date on the latest information by liking PAMM on Facebook and following the museum on Twitter at @pamm and on Instagram.

By Elizabeth R. Miller, communications associate at Knight Foundation.