A work by the New York-based artist Sanford Biggers has been selected through a public vote to be acquired by the city of Miami Beach from the virtual Art Basel in Miami Beach fair last week, as a part of their Legacy Purchase Program. The cut and painted quilt titled Somethin’ Close to Nothin’ (2019), was virtually displayed in the Miami-based David Castillo Gallery’s online viewing room.
The work by Biggers will be publicly displayed in the East Lobby of the Miami Beach Convention Center, and joins the city-owned Art in Public Places collection, which includes earlier works by Joseph Kosuth, Roy Lichtenstein, Dan Graham, Franz Ackerman and others.
This is the second edition of the Legacy Purchase Program, which allows locals to select a work to add to the collection. The inaugural winner last year was a mixed media piece by the artist Ebony G. Patterson, but since a painting by Amoako Boafo was only three votes behind in the official tally, the city opted to purchase both works. Patterson’s work has already been installed in the convention centre, while Boafo’s piece is currently on loan to The Bass Museum
“The Legacy Purchase Program allows the City to invest in creativity and engages our residents in a meaningful way,” Dan Gelber, the mayor of Miami Beach, said in a statement. “Our community participates in voting for their favorite work of art and is part of transforming Miami Beach’s meaningful art collection.”