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for immediate release
March 30, 2026
— Naomi Wilzig founded the World Erotic Art Museum in South Beach —
Miami Beach, FL – The City of Miami Beach will honor late erotic art collector Naomi Wilzig with a street naming on Monday, April 6 at 10 a.m. on 12 Street and Washington Avenue. Wilzig was best known as the founder of the World Erotic Art Museum in South Beach. A portion of 12 Street will be renamed Naomi Wilzig Way between Ocean Drive and Washington Avenue.
The street naming was recommended by the Miami Beach Commission for Women and subsequently approved by the Miami Beach City Commission.
“Naomi Wilzig was a cultural force in the city,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Laura Dominguez, who sponsored the street-naming measure. “She dared to be different and her collection reflects not only her individuality, but also her perseverance to find a home for her unique collection.”
Located at 1205 Washington Ave., the World Erotic Art Museum is believed to be the only museum in the United States solely dedicated to fine erotic art with more than 4,000 international pieces dating from 300 B.C. to the present.
Wilzig, who passed away on April 7, 2015, founded the museum 10 years earlier. She was a collector, author and lecturer.
“I had already been turned down by many other locations,” she told a German videographer shortly before her death. “Unfortunately, the American public thinks erotic art means pornography. They were afraid I would bring something nasty and unsavory to their neighborhoods.”
The product of an Orthodox Jewish family, Wilzig said she began collecting erotic at the request of her son, who was looking for pieces for his personal collection. He turned to his mother because she was an avid antiquarian.
“I liked the art because it showed life. It showed life as people live it, as what is human, what is normal, what people do,” she said in the video interview. “I sort of resented that it was hidden away.”
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