Outside the Box features twelve public art installations  inspired by contemporary and historical aspects of Belle Glade and Pahokee, in Palm Beach County's Lake Region.

Artists based in The Palm Beaches created original two-dimensional artworks with diverse materials that were translated onto adhesive vinyl wraps, transforming traffic signal boxes into three-dimensional sculptures and pedestrian scale murals all rolled into one.

Traffic signal boxes are ideal “canvases" to enhance streetscapes, humanize the built environment and foster a unique sense of place for residents and visitors to The Lake Region. 

 

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My love of nature led me to paint Lilygator, inspired by a local iconic predator, depicted in a unique and peaceful light.  I photographed an alligator gliding through the waters; her wet, armored skin glistening in the evening sun. Painted layers of rainbow color detail captured the gator's iridescent tones. The deep rich bluey green waters and vibrant lily pad blooms celebrate the local natural environment in all its glory. Through my artwork, I aim to bring awareness to the need to protect and preserve wildlife and their habitats. 

Medium: Acrylic Paint on Canvas
Completed in 2020.
 

 

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The Lake Region is known for its agriculture, football and Lake Okeechobee's natural beauty. I love nature and wanted to take the opportunity to show the relation with nature to people and everything around us. You can see a young man chasing a rabbit. The left side of his body shows a football player. Nature provides food and the young man is developing skills and maybe, if he has enough fire in his heart, he will be a famous football player in the future.

Medium: Acrylic Paint on Canvas
Completed in 2020.
 

 

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My artwork celebrates sugar cane agriculture, particularly for the benefits it provides to the local avian wildlife.  The artwork honors the intricate detail and elegant beauty of the sugar cane stalks and features a cross-section of the birds that thrive specifically in this farm habitat. I have incorporated a combination of different media to represent the diversity of the unique bird populations that benefit from this crop. 

Medium: Found and Repurposed Ceramic Dishes and Jewelry Pieces, Marbles, Glass, Sanded Grout, Acrylic Paint on Watercolor Paper on Canvas
Completed in 2020.

 

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I approached developing my piece with a historical lens and sought inspiration in Belle Glade's 1920s agricultural boom which earned her the motto, “Her soil is her fortune." The artwork features migrant workers packing cabbages in a truck in Belle Glade, re-interpreting a 1939 black and white photograph by photographer Marion Post Wolcott. My composition uses a modern geometric style that breaks down each element into 6,712 triangular forms.

Medium: Vector Illustration
Completed in 2020.

 

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Sugar cane is a primary crop of the Glades area because of the area's rich muck land. The burning of cane at night is becoming historical because of new regulations. However, the burning and harvesting of the cane is still very much a part of the life of the Glades. I saw a field burning one night, snapped some photos, and out of that image I painted my original work. I added the cane workers to represent the many men and women who work to harvest the cane.

Medium: Oil Paint on Canvas
Completed in 2020.
 

 

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I created an image that was contemporary with a nod to the past. The symbolic, bold image can be appreciated while walking by, or passing in a vehicle. The painted images of sugar cane are the basket "bows" woven with strands of beads and thread, representing the agricultural colors of the area. The basket pays homage to the history of agriculture in this area while also being contemporary in design and style.

Medium: Acrylic Paint, Hand Stitched Thread and Beads on Canvas
Completed in 2020.
 

 

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The story behind this painting is about the overabundance of Florida critters that you see every day sometimes without even thinking of it. Whether you're fishing or hiking around Lake Okeechobee or cruising through the intracoastal or Florida beaches, you may have come across some of these. I want this painting to be a reminder to the residents and onlookers of the beauty you may come across just down the road, and to not take it for granted.

Medium: Digital Painting
Completed in 2020.

 

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Over a decade ago I attended a Florida Humanities Council workshop focused on the writings of Zora Neale Hurston. During that experience I had the chance to visit many sites mentioned in her books, as well as some locations where she lived and worked. This piece is inspired the main characters who worked alongside migrant workers in Belle Glade, in Hurston's, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The watchful eye and a serene face connect with Hurston's writings and the locale.

Medium: Spray Paint, Marker, Watercolor and Acrylic Paint on Paper
Completed in 2020.

 

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I created this after I learned about the 1928 Hurricane that killed thousands of people from the swampy farmlands in the Glades. I used symbols that represent the strength and determination of its people, and the power we all have to renew ourselves and start over. Sugarcane is a natural renewable resource that provides us with a multitude of byproducts and grows in the muck, which is home to many bird species. Birds symbolize peace, transformation, freedom and power. The piece is dedicated to all the people from the farming communities who perished that day.

Medium: Acrylic Paint on Wood Panel
Completed in 2020.      
 

 

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My inspiration comes from my late afternoon visit to the town of Belle Glade. Plants known as alligator flags were most commonly present in my photos. Native to Florida, Thalia geniculata is also found throughout the Americas and western Africa. This rhizomatic wetland plant is a habitat for gallinule birds and is also a favorite breeding ground of the Brazilian skipper butterfly. With this artwork, I have highlighted a small patch of uncultivated land to remind us of this environmentally essential wetlands habitat for which Florida is well known. 

Medium: Altered Digital Photograph
Completed in 2020.

 

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This work explores the relationship between land and water, and its fertile possibilities for the environment and the human mind. In framing pure abstraction with geometric form I am able to heighten the fluidity of the materials themselves, mimicking the movement of the land. In exploring the relationship between memory and place, Crystalline Brink celebrates the pre-historic “People of the Water" who lived for thousands of years in Belle Glade. I hope that this installation will invite poetic moments of contemplation for passersby.

Medium: Archival Ink on Paper
Completed in 2020.

 

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The Lake Region offers some of the most remarkable views of Lake Okeechobee and I was immediately drawn to the idea of creating a fun, dynamic image for community enjoyment. I looked to the flora growing along the lake's shoreline and found the luminous yellow flowers of spadderdock and the pale pink swamp rosemallow to be instant inspirations. Okeefloral Fantasy reimagines this special place where water, big sky and quirky flowers combine to create a colorful and lively view.

Medium: Acrylic Paint on Wood Panel
Completed in 2020.