The Mint Museum (a Knight Arts grantee) announced the three winning artworks from its Vote for Art campaign this past Friday at a swanky event appropriately called the Ballot Ball. The Vote for Art campaign began in September and coincided with the Democratic National Convention. In an attempt to more fully align the Mint Museum’s collection with the hopes and visions of the Charlotte community, the Mint Museum agreed to acquire three out of six artworks that received the most votes from visitors to the museum.

The six artworks on the ballot were:

• “The Birth of Venus, After Botticelli (Pictures of Junk)” by Vik Muniz. Created in 2008, this conceptual photograph mimics Botticelli’s famous painting in an unexpected way and with a non-traditional medium. It is on view from August 25 through February 24, 2013 in the “VantagePoint X: Vik Muniz” exhibition.
• “Dora’s Dance” by Beverly McIver. This portrait is exemplary of McIver’s emotive canvases, in which she explores her inner most self through the portraits of others.
• “Before Midnight” by Mattia Biagi. Featured in the Mint’s “Fairytales, Fantasy, and Fear” exhibition, the dark, tar-covered carriage transports viewers back to childhood stories of Cinderella, but hints at the darker side of most of these tales.
• “Porcupine Cabinet” by Sebastian Errazuriz. This streamlined, minimalist sculpture is actually very interactive, transforming into a spiky, movable anthropomorphic character. If the Mint bought this piece, it would be the first museum in America to own one of Errazuriz’s works.  “Porcupine Cabinet” can be seen in the Mint’s new exhibition “Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design.”
• “Slice Chair Paper” by Mathias Bengtsson. This artwork crosses boundaries combining elements of furniture design and sculpture.  “Slice Chair Paper” is made of layers upon layers of paper glued together without any screws or fasteners.
• “Wood Branches, Diversity N. 17 (Prototype)” by Nacho Carbonell.  From the widely acclaimed Designer of the Future, this chair is laboriously constructed with a distinct branch covered surface.

And the winners are:

In third place, “Slice Chair Paper” by Mathias Bengtsson. In second place, “Before Midnight” by Mattia Biagi. In first place, “The Birth of Venus, After Botticelli (Pictures of Junk)” by Vik Muniz. Not only was the Vote for Art campaign extremely relevant in connecting visitors, both adults and children, to the democratic process in motion this year with the 2012 presidential election, but this campaign helped Charlotteans who voted invest intellectually and emotionally in the Mint Museum. Visitors can view these three works in the museum and know they had a part in their presence here. By using the democratic process, the museum encouraged visitors to learn more about the art candidates and explore the Mint Museum Uptown in search of the art works on the ballot, since in a brilliant move curators did not position all of the works in one room. Instead visitors had to move through various art exhibitions looking for these pieces basically on a scavenger hunt.

Mint Museum Uptown: 500 South Tryon St., Charlotte; 704-337-2000; www.mintmuseum.org. Open Tues., 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Wed.–Sat., 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; and Sun., 1 – 5 p.m. Admission: adults, $10; students/seniors, $8;  children 5-17, $5.