World Erotic Art Museum Miami
Coordinates: 25°47′00″N 80°07′56″W / 25.783295°N 80.132102°W
| Established | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Location |
1205 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, Florida, United States |
| Director | Helmut Schuster |
| Owner | Naomi Wilzig |
| Website | www.weam.com |
The Weam Miami, located in the heart of the Art Deco District, is a museum, library and education think tank that uses its collection to illustrate the history of erotic art.
Collection
The collection includes sculptures, drawings, paintings, and photographs. The collection ranges from folk art to world known artists and their artwork.The Museum shows artwork from artists like Rembrandt, Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Fernando Botero as well as Robert Maplethorpe, Helmut Newton and Bunny Yeager to name just a few out of more than 4000.
Exhibitions
In 2011 WEAM premiered the first US exhibition of rare erotic Rembrandt Etchings, In 2012 the curator Helmut Schuster arranged the first Solo show of Helmut Newton in Florida in Cooperation with the MDM in Salzburg.
The Collector
One of six children born to H. Jerome Sisselman, known as the Hackensack Meadowlands Czar who amassed a huge tract of land to build Berry’s Creek Center, Wilzig was born in Newark, New Jersey in the mid 1930s. Wilzig graduated from Weequahic High School in Newark, and attended New Jersey’s Montclair State Teachers College, currently Montclair State University. In 1953 Naomi married Siggi B. Wilzig, an Auschwitz survivor,as well as a founder of the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and CEO and President of The Trust Company of New Jersey, a major N.J. bank until his death in 2003. Numerous organizations have benefited from the insight and service of Wilzig. She has served at the helm of many of them: as Founder and a Lifetime Member of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel; as a member of the Israel Bonds’ President’s Club; as founder of the Wilzig Hospital Center in Jersey City, N.J. and the Parents Association of Cardoza Law School of Yeshiva University. She is a Lifetime Member of the Cong. Adas Israel Synagogue in Passaic, N.J., and holds the distinction of being the only woman ever honored as Woman of the Year by the Synagogue. Naomi is also a Lifetime Member of the Florida Holocaust Museum in Saint Petersburg,Naomi is also on Board of Directors of Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, Life Member and Director of Daughters of Miriam Center for the Aged and a member of the American Museum Association. On October 16, 2010 The City of Miami Beach issued Naomi a Proclamation declaring the day "World Erotic Art Museum Day. Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the museum. On May 12, 2011 The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality presented Wilzig with "Doctor of Arts Honors Causa Sexuality / Erotology. On October 16, 2011 the City of Miami Beach issued a proclamation declaring it Naomi Wilzig Day at her public Investiture of her doctorate degree ceremony.