Best Museum

Granted, Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art may have shaken off some of its stodginess, the Coral Springs Museum of Art may offer the best display space in the area, and the new Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art may be the most promising venue in South Florida. But right here, right now, the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood is the most exciting museum around. Credit curator of exhibitions Laurence Pamer for not being hampered by the awkward configuration of a building not originally designed as a museum, but credit him mostly for taking creative risks. In the past year or so, the center has been home to an eclectic array of exhibitions, including such quirky group shows as "The Symphony of Trees: Contemplations of Nature in the Abstract" and "Amalgam: Multi-Media Fusions by Four Florida Artists," not to mention the knockout "American Glass" show. Best of all, with the recent intentionally outrageous "Lowbrow: Up From the Underground" exhibition, Pamer proved he's not reluctant to offend people, which should be part of the job description for any curator.