From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best Museum

September 21 2005

Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale
1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954/525-5500, www.moafl.org

The museum that has long nourished a fledgling arts community with exhibits of works by Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher and its own CoBrA collection has suddenly become a museum for the masses. In 2003, it presented the papal riches of Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes, to which many pilgrims and art lovers flocked. A year later, it displayed the royal treasures of the late Princess of Wales with Diana, a Celebration, which drew about 150,000 paying subjects to the elegant downtown space. This year's drawing card will be Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs, which is expected to attract more than 400,000 visitors from Dec. 15 through April 23. The museum deserves credit for its populism, and let's hope it stays busy even after the Egyptian artifacts leave town.