After donating a team collage for the Heat Family Festival in 1997, Coconut Grovebased artist, Erika got the chance to meet Coach Pat Riley. Since then, Riley and the Heat have commissioned King to create Heat Championship collages, as well as personal tribute collages of Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and long time trainer Ron Culp when their Heat jerseys were retired at the American Airlines Arena. Coach Erik Spoelstra has also commissioned King to create his own Heat collages.
The KROMA Art Gallery (3628 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove) will showcase King’s Miami Heat NBA collage series until May 13. Heat fans can get in on the action by commissioning King to create personalized, custom-made Miami Heat Championship collages which could include photos of their family and friends.
In addition to her work with the Heat, King has been documenting Miami’s cultural and corporate histories since the mid-70s. Through photographs and paint, she traces histories which become visual stories. Her collages have graced the walls of banks, developers and international corporate offices including American Express, Telemundo, City National Bank, Beacon Council, Untied Way and the Related Companies.
Anniversary collages were created for the Miami Centennial, Miami City Ballet, Florida Grand Opera, University of Miami and Miami Beach Centennial. She is currently working on the 50th anniversary of Florida International University. Other sports collages include the Miami Grand Prix, Panthers, Marlins and Dan Marino.
King has also created collages commemorating the Miami Heat 10th Anniversary of NBA Championships featuring Miami Heat NBA Championships 2006, 2012, 2013, Dwayne Wade MVP and the NBA Miami Heat Legends of Basketball – We Made This Game collages.
The artwork created about the National Basketball Association is produced by Cash McMahon, Icon Art Images and Sam Battistone, Dreamstar and features the hand-signed autographs of 60 NBA greats.
Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hard- away, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and Gary Payton are included on the NBA Heat Legends piece which also features Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Charles Barkley and Kobe Bryant to name a few. NBA Commissioner David Stern has also personally signed each NBA logo on these historic collages. The producers have donated $250,000 to the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) as part of its partnership with the NBA players to give back to the older players who paved the way back in the day.
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