The city has just crowned a new piece for its permanent collection at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Anneke Eussen's "It's Alright" is the latest selection for the 2023 Legacy Purchase Program, as announced by the City of Miami Beach. It's a contemporary wall-mounted glass and mixed-media sculpture.

The piece stood out among three finalists in a citywide program where Miami Beach's Art in Public Places Committee played matchmaker with potential artworks and the public cast the deciding vote.“Thank you to the hundreds of residents who participated in selecting Anneke Eussen’s work as this year’s Legacy Purchase,” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner told the press. The mayor laid it on thick, expressing his delight that the artwork will add a touch of class to the convention center and, by extension, to the experience of residents and visitors who pass through.

The work reflects Eussen's upbringing in a Dutch town near the borders of Germany and Belgium. Recycled glass strips and panes are cobbled together, keeping their raw edges visible. This creates a sort of map-like shape that messes with the idea of borders, challenging our concepts of space and separation. 

The acquisition is a feather in the cap for DOCUMENT, the Chicago gallery representing Eussen. “We are delighted that Anneke Eussen will be part of the public collection of the City of Miami Beach,” Sibylle Friche, Partner at DOCUMENT, was quoted. They praised Eussen's work as a poetic intersection of art and contemporary realities. 

The Legacy Purchase Program kicked off in 2019 to collect pieces from artists who are going places. This program includes previous acquisitions from names on the must-have lists of deep-pocketed art collectors: think Juana Valdés, Sanford Biggers, and other heavy hitters. All this bankrolling comes courtesy of the Miami Beach Convention Center's Art in Public Places Fund, a stash that's beefed up by 2% of hard costs from the city and joint private/public construction projects.