Hew Locke “For Those in Peril on the Sea;” photo: Daniel Azoulay.

It’s finally happening. The Pérez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM) will officially open soon.

On a recent walk-through, we still had to wear hard hats inside and outside, but the building is almost there. The exhibits were still being installed, but there was enough hanging to get a good feel for what the international world will see when Art Basel Miami Beach arrives.

It’s difficult not to be impressed by the building itself, which was designed by Herzog & de Meuron; interestingly, the architectural firm was founded in Basel, Switzerland. The firm also worked closely with Chinese artist Ai Weiwei to build Beijing National Stadium,aka the Bird’s Nest stadium, for the 2008 Summer Olympics; Ai will be the featured artist when the museum opens to the public Dec. 4.

The main exhibition spaces at PAMM are sprawling, and many of the rooms have stunning views of Miami and Biscayne Bay. The windows, however, can be covered in special shades to keep the light away from sensitive art. Then there are smaller project rooms, one with a high ceiling to house large-scale sculpture. This time around, it is a huge, heavy green metal sculpture from Polish artist Monika Sosnowska hanging from the ceiling.

Weiwei’s work was still packed in crates, but most of the paintings of Amelia Palaez were up on the walls. The works of the Cuban artist will be the other main featured exhibition. Palaez was an influential painter of the 20th century, who, along with others such as Wifredo Lam and Carlos Enriquez, explored European movements such as abstraction and Cubism, but mixed in imagery and motifs from their Caribbean island homeland. The paintings for this survey come from the museum’s collections and also from other Miami institutions and collections. Palaez added her own specific touches, taking inspiration from the architecture and trappings of the interiors of Havana homes. It’s an expansive and impressive show.

In fact, many of the exhibits combine works from the museum with related pieces on loan from other collections. The great thing about the new museum is that these works, no matter what size, have lots of room to breathe. Several of the project rooms will show commissioned videos as well.

But the Hew Locke sculpture will leave a lasting impression. At the front of the museum, it’s an installation made of small boats that Locke based on vessels of all types from around the world. The sculpture’s relationship to the history and reality of Miami is striking, and it was a great decision by PAMM to highlight it and add it to the permanent collection.