Mera and Don Rubell
Co-founders of the Rubell Museums

Don and Mera Rubell started collecting in 1965 while living in New York, acquiring their first work after a studio visit and paying on a modest weekly installment plan. The Rubells grew their collection by looking at art, talking with artists, and trusting their instincts. Their son, Jason Rubell, joined them in 1982 in building the collection, extending the multigenerational family passion for discovering, engaging, and supporting many of today’s most compelling artists. The Rubells moved to Miami in 1992, and together with Jason and their daughter, Jennifer, began developing hotels and an art foundation and museum to house and publicly exhibit their expanding art collection.

Since the Rubells’ first acquisition, they’ve amassed one of the most significant and far-ranging collections of contemporary art in the world, encompassing over 7,700 works by more than 1,000 artists—and still growing. The collection is further distinguished by the diversity and geographic distribution of artists represented within it, and the depth of its holdings of works by seminal artists.

The Rubells are drawn to emerging and underrecognized artists. They were among the first to acquire work by now-renowned contemporary artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, Hayv Kahraman, Jeff Koons, William Kentridge, Yoshitomo Nara, Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama, Kara Walker, Purvis Young, and Mickalene Thomas, among many others. They continue to vigorously collect by visiting studios, art spaces, fairs, galleries, biennials, and museums, and by talking with artists, curators, and gallerists. If the work grabs them, they dig deeper—conducting intensive research before they welcome it into their collection.

In 1993, the Rubells’ passion became their mission when they opened the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Art Foundation in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The establishment of the RFC pioneered a new model for sharing private collections with the public and spurred the development of Wynwood as one of the leading art and design districts in the U.S. After nearly 30 years, the collection relocated to the Allapattah neighborhood in December 2019 and was renamed the Rubell Museum to emphasize its public mission and expanded access for audiences. The opening of the Rubell Museum DC in October 2022 further deepened the family’s commitment to sharing their collection as a public resource, providing opportunities for residents and visitors of the nation’s capital to engage with today’s most compelling artists.

Jason Rubell
Co-founder of the Rubell Museums

Jason Rubell started collecting contemporary art in 1983 at the age of 14, acquiring the painting Immigrants from then-emerging George Condo via Pat Hearn Gallery. At first supporting his collecting habit by stringing tennis rackets, Jason’s early support of artists grew into a life-defining passion. In 1991, while studying at Duke University, Jason curated Time Capsule, Age 13 to 21: The Contemporary Art Collection of Jason Rubell, an exhibition of nearly 100 works that Rubell collected between 1983-1991 by 53 artists including George Condo, Gerhard Richter and Cindy Sherman. Time Capsule traveled to 10 university art museums across the country between 1991 and 1994, encouraging young art historians to acquire artworks and participate in the story of art. In 2011, for the 20th anniversary of Time Capsule, the exhibition was reinstalled in full at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and a new edition of the catalogue was published.

Jason’s studies at Duke and experience with organizing and touring the exhibition of his collection were instrumental in the Rubell family’s decision to open their collection to the public, ensuring it would serve as a broader resource for audiences to encounter contemporary art and the ideas it explores. 

In addition to helping lead the family’s museums in Miami and DC, Jason serves as Vice President of Rubell Hotels.