On February 3, 2023, the City of Deerfield Beach dedicated this unique public kinetic art piece in…read morePastor Willie James Ford, Sr. Linear Park. It is the first art installation that I have come across that is not only art but is also functional fitness equipment. The fitness court was created by National Campaign Fitness Court, a nationwide consulting organization that partners with cities and schools to create fitness hubs to improve the well being of the community. This piece is a part of the NCF's art and culture series which was created in 2020. NFC trademarked this seven station fitness court in 2012. It is an open air wellness center and is adaptable to all fitness levels. Your own body weight is used to give you an optimal workout. On the side of the court is an app you can download that will help you use the court properly. The app takes you to videos of workouts you can do to strengthen every part of your body. The beginner workout is seven stations where you do exercise for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds before moving on. it is like having a personal trainer in your phone. I found the videos to be clear and helpful. On the outside of the court is art work by world-renown 20th century modern artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The piece is titled Boy and a Dog in a Johnnypump and it was created in 1982. The piece sold for over a 100 million dollars in 2020. Basquiat created art in the 70 and 80's as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. A common theme of his art was the portrayal of historically prominent black figures. He was active in the art world until his death of a heroin overdose at the age of 27 in 1988. I am always looking for new ways to exercise so I don't get bored. This fitness court definitely peeked my interest. I love how it is art but also a place to work out. The only thing I was disappointed in is that there isn't any legal parking here. It seems to be mainly for the people who live nearby. I hope that my town gets one of these cool fitness courts soon.

I have been eagerly awaiting the installation of this public art piece and it is finally here. This…read morelarge, 8,000 pound bronze sea turtle statue was created for Dania Beach by environmental artist and conservationist Robert Wyland who was born in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan. He is most well known for his large outdoor murals, a series of 100 Whaling Walls throughout the country and world to spotlight the fragile ocean ecosystem. J. Milton and Associates as part of the City of Dania Beach's public art program, commissioned Wyland to create a sculpture of a Florida green sea turtle and the colorful reef fish and coral that are part of Florida's living reef. The sculpture was built over eight months and then shipped to Dania Beach. This turtle sculpture is part of Wyland's global public art project, which focuses on representations of marine life. Other Wyland pieces from this project are in Beijing, China and Hoonah, Alaska. This green turtle is swimming in front of Sea View Luxury Rentals. The pictures do not do this beautiful piece justice. I have been a long time Wyland fan and have visited several of the Whaling Walls. I love how this sculpture brings awareness to green sea turtles. They are the largest of the hard shelled turtles and are unique because they are herbivores with a diet consisting of sea grass and algae. Green turtles are found around the world but their numbers have declined as they have been used for their meat and eggs. They have also lost nesting habitat due to coastal development. They are listed as an endangered species.

Since their first public art project, the covered bridge in 1963, Coral Springs has become one of…read morethe leading public art cities in south Florida. The art is paid for during development and redevelopment in the city. Fees are collected from permits during building construction and renovations in the city. None of the art is paid with public tax dollars It is always fun to discover a new to me art installation when I'm out and about in town. I found this This triptych metal sculpture cwas reated by artist Hanna Jubran in 2005. The shiny metal and large scale caught my eye while walking into the library in Coral Springs. The city purchased the piece in 2009 and added it to the front of the Northwest Regional Library where you can also find a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King and 9/11. Across the street there are more public art walks in the ArtWalk on 31st Ct.

Across from Mad Art museum is this five foot stone sculpted replica Olmec Colossal Head. The…read moresculpture faces South Federal Hwy to turn heads of every driver. Perfect for a picturesque opportunity with a cool piece of art. The original stone pieces weigh 40 tons from 400 - 1200 BCE made by mesoamericans. Only 17 known originals are in existence.

Rocket is a public art piece located at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus. It is part of the Art in…read morePublic Places Initiative in South Florida. This office park used to be the research and development headquarters of IBM in 1970. It contains architecturally iconic historical buildings created by Marcel Breuer in the 1960s. The first IBM personal computer was invented here along with the first smartphone. This campus was at the forefront of early robotics technology and other tech inventions. Rocket is the creation of Virginia artist Hubert Phipps who is well known for his abstract sculptures and paint pigment drawings He is also a champion race car driver and aviator. He took inspiration for Rocket from his love of aero dynamic forms. First he drew the model and created it out of clay. It was then rendered in 3D using Maya, a software modeling program. The rocket design is meant to represent the intersection of science and art while celebrating modern engineering. The 30-foot, 9.8 ton corrosive resistant stainless steel rocket was manufactured in 2019 at the Tany Foundry in Hangzhou, China. From there it experienced several Covid related delays crossing the Pacific Ocean and traveling through the Panama Canal before arriving 8,000 miles away in Boca Raton through a partnership with the Boca Raton Museum of Art and developer CP Group. The rocket sculpture is valued at 1.5 million dollars will be here for a five year loan period. I loved discovering this public art. The park like setting adds even more beauty to the sculpture. You can walk through it and discover the perfect spot to take a picture or selfie of yourself making it interactive art. Come out and experience it before it jets off to galaxies unknown.

As I drove up towards the BRiC building, the art installation caught my eyes!…read more This once was a technology facility. Now, it is the Boca Raton Innovation Campus. To represent this forward-thinking presence, the Rocket sits in the very front as you drive through the round-a-about parking lot. Hubert Phipps' 30-foot stainless steel sculpture "Rocket" traveled over 8,000 miles to arrive as the new centerpiece at Boca Raton Innovation Campus, 5000 T-Rex Ave. Inspired by the artist's love of aerodynamic forms, the steel sculpture's full-scale fabrication began in 2019 at the Tany Foundry in Hangzhou, China. "The sculpture by Hubert Phipps was conceived as that intersection between art and science, and celebrates the heroics of modern engineering, as also seen in Marcel Breuer's historic building designs for IBM's North American Research and Development Headquarters," said Irvin Lippman, the Executive Director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The gleaming, stainless steel reflecting Rocket was two years in the making, with a nod to Sci Fi retro futurism. The Campus encourages visitors to walk around and underneath it, to enjoy their funhouse mirror images on the shiny surface. The monumental new sculpture Rocket by Hubert Phipps was been selected for an Art in Public Places initiative in South Florida, for the BRiC, the historic tech landmark where the first IBM Personal Computer was invented. This new public art program is part of a cultural partnership between the Boca Art Museum and CP Group, the owner of BRiC and a premier developer and operator of commercial real estate. South Florida officials heralded this announcement with an unveiling ceremony at BRiC, officially welcoming Rocket as one of the largest outdoor sculptures ever chosen for a public art initiative in Palm Beach County. The Phipps sculpture is valued at $1.5 million, stands 30-feet tall, weighs 9.8 tons, and took more than 7,000 square feet of stainless steel to construct. The Rocket sculpture towers alongside a waterfront panorama of iconic architecture designed by Marcel Breuer in the 1960s. This celebrated architectural style by Breuer is rarely seen at this grand of a scale, spanning so many acres. The new sculpture by Phipps and the historic buildings designed by Breuer marry each other well in the Brutalist style, creating a powerful visual impact.

The Mechanical Horse is a new public art installation in front of the Boynton Beach Arts and…read moreCultural Center. First announced in December of 2018, it is part of a new 1.15 million dollar art project to create kinetic and interactive art to bring cultural tourism to Boynton Beach and to make the new Town Square "iconic, interactive, and connective". Some of the money came from the city while the majority came from a private developer. Art is dispersed around the area in the new Kapok Tree Park, the new  fire station, police headquarters, and two new parking garages that will have murals. I love horses and public art so I was really delighted to discover this guy hanging out in front of the culture center. It was created in 2015 by artist Adrian Landon who grew up riding horses. Of his horse pieces Landon has said "My work also has a lot of sound in it, just the metal clanking, like the hooves touch the ground and slide on a metal sheet. And you can hear the chains. So it's very much about providing a new experience for people." When I visited, the horse was just hanging there but I saw on the internet videos where the motor is turned on and the horse looks like it is running. It is very cool to watch. You can find several large scale art pieces outside in this area. The rest of the exhibit is inside the Arts and Cultural Center. Come check out art that no only moves you, it actually moves.

Five Points has been a Wilton Manors landmark since 1925 when it was laid out by Edward J. "Ned"…read moreWillingham. It served as the gateway to his subdivision of Wilton Manors. The five pointed intersection is unusual because three major streets, Wilton Drive, Northeast 26th Street and Dixie Highway converge from five directions. It is believed to be the only such road configuration in the county. Back in the 1920's, Wilton Boulevard was framed by four Romanesque towers designed by noted architect Frank Abreu. Prospective lot buyers could climb to the top of the highest tower which was 38 feet so they could pick out their land. Sadly the large tower was torn down in 1957 to make way for an A&W root beer stand. From the 1950's to the late 1970's people would drink root beer at the drive-in and they bought vegetables from a grain and feed store. Trains loaded with produce would roar past Five Points. The smaller pair of towers located between NE 26th St and Wilton Dr. were torn down in 1964. The last little tower was taken down shortly after. Today thousands of cars pass through Five Points everyday on their way north to Oakland Park, East to Federal Hwy, South to Middle River Terrace, and west to Wilton Manors. At the perimeter of Five Points sits a number of businesses including a Publix built in 2001. Any effort to fix Five Points by the Florida Department of Transportation has been met with resistance by local residents and businesses so if you do plan to drive through prepare to hear a lot of honking by frustrated motorists trying to navigate the road. Locals wouldn't have it any other way.

Five Points is a matter of "Local Flavor" rather than an actual business and somewhat of a rarity…read morein that it is made up of the five point highway intersection of NE 26th Street, North Dixie Highway and Wilton Drive, and as such a local location landmark and reference point. Local location directions are often given by stating distances from Five Points, such as "four blocks south on Wilton Drive from Five Points," "I'm one mile from Five Points," etc. Besides being a rare 5 point intersection it's also somewhat of an oddity in that, if you'll notice, the traffic lights change in a counterclockwise as opposed to the usual clockwise sequence of rotation. Every local knows this location and it is the location where all the parades or street festivals of Wilton Manors either begin or end.

The Moving Wall is a half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. It was…read morecreated by John Devitt who visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the capital and wanted to bring the experience to other people who could not make it to Washington. The Moving Wall was built by . Devitt, Norris Shears, Gerry Haver, and other Vietnam veteran volunteers. The Moving Wall was displayed for the first time in Tyler, Texas, in October 1984. The Moving Wall has been touring the country for 30 years. It was last in Coral Springs in 2015. The Moving Wall was sponsored by the Veterans Coalition of Coral Springs. It was on display at the Coral Springs Sportsplex from Friday May 5 through Sunday May 7. During its installation there was a Huey Flyover and several military guest speakers. The Moving Wall is very touching to see in person. The number of names is overwhelming. It is a poignant tribute to those in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War who gave all. Watching people find loved ones and family names or seeing them share their experiences with the younger generation always gets me in the heart.