On September 2, 2023, the Miami Beach Commission for Women passed a unanimous motion recommending that the City co-designate City streets in honor of women who have significantly impacted the City’s history and culture, and the recommendation was transmitted via LTC No. 415-2023. Among recommended candidates, the Commission for Women recommended Naomi Wilzig, American erotic art collector and the founder and director of the World Erotic Art Museum in Miami Beach, Florida.

I would like to refer the above-referenced item to Public Safety and Neighborhood Qualify of Life Committee (the “Committee”) to consider the co-naming of the portion of 12th Street located between Ocean Drive and Washington Avenue, in honor of Naomi Wilzig, along with any amendment to Section 82-503 of the City Code which may be required to accomplish the naming.

Ms. Wilzig was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1934. In the early 1950s she married Siggi Wilzig, an Auschwitz survivor and an early leader of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, as well as president of the Trust Company of New Jersey until his death in 2003. In 1983 Ms. Wilzig began collecting erotic art for herself. Between 2003 and 2005 she accumulated more than 4,000 pieces from around the world. Her personal collection became the base of the World Erotic Art Museum in Miami Beach, which opened in 2005.

In 2006, Ms. Wilzig was honored with the Key to the City of Miami Beach. In 2011, the City of Miami Beach proclaimed October 16 "World Erotic Art Museum Day" in honor of Ms. Wilzig's museum's fifth anniversary.

In, 2011, The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality presented Ms. Wilzig with "Doctor of Arts Honors Causa Sexuality/Erotology." On October 16, 2011, the City issued a proclamation declaring it “Naomi Wilzig Day” at her public investiture of her doctorate degree ceremony.

In order to co-name a City street in honor of notable women who made lasting and significant contributions to the City of Miami Beach community through arts and culture, the adoption of the limited, additional co-naming criteria is required.

I respectfully submit that Naomi Wilzig is worthy of our consideration for a naming opportunity to mark her contributions to Miami Beach as a music destination, and I urge my colleagues to support this item.

Should you have any questions or concerns about any of the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact me.