Paul Manship sculptures outside the Norton Museum

Did you know that the two bronze sculptures on the eastside of the Norton Museum are re-telling a myth.   Actaeon was a mortal hunter who came upon Diana bathing one day. Enraged by this invasion of privacy, the goddess shot him with an arrow that transformed him into a stag and he was torn to pieces by his own hounds.

 

Diana and Hound, 1925

On the left, a naked Diana is running away and shooting an arrow at Actaeon.   On the right, Actaeon has begun to change into a deer with short horns growing from his head.

Actaeon, 1925

The original sculpture was made in the 1925 and copies are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.   In 1934, Manship made the golden Prometheus sculpture at the ice skating ring at Rockefeller Center.

Prometheus Fountain, 1934

 

Elder’s Cove in Dreher Park by Brookner and Ciotti

In 2003-2004 the City of West Palm Beach redesigned the,130 acre Dreher Park, to improve stormwater capacity and enhance recreation areas. Artist team Jackie Brookner and Angelo Ciotti were commissioned to work on art concepts throughout the park and be part of the Design Team.

Brookner and Ciotti created Elders’ Cove, a landscape complex that includes a fourteen foot biosculpture, that uses wetland plants to filter water in one of the park’s new lakes, a viewing dock, wetland habitats, and sculpted mounds that reclaim excavated soil. Other of their concepts include cypress swamp islands that recall the original Everglades ecosystem of the site, a medicinal garden based on Seminole culture designed in consultation with Seminole elders, and native plant restoration.

Elder’s Cove by Jackie Brookner and Angelo Ciotti, 2004. Dreher Park

Elder’s Cove by Jackie Brookner and Angelo Ciotti, 2004. Dreher Park

Seminole Garden, 2004. Dreher Park

Jackie Brookner at TEDtalks in Fargo, ND.

“For humans to survive, ecological artist Jackie Brookner says it is not enough to change the ways we fuel, feed, entertain and shelter ourselves. Something much more basic has to happen. We need to mainstream a different understanding of who we are, as individuals and as a species. She calls this “the being of human,” and says it is about the “verbing” of our existence.”

Brookner TED Talk

We are starting the Art in Public Places master plan

Over the next six months, IBI Group-Pompano will develop the Art in Public Places master plan for the City of West Palm Beach and plan the future public artworks for the next ten years.  Please join the effort.

Artist Ann Norton at Ann Norton Sculpture Garden

All the activities by the public art planners from IBI Groupywill be published on this blog.  Each week, an email will arrive in the your inbox showing the art in West Palm, ideas of art projects, possible locations and future public meetings to discuss everything about public art.

If Facebook or Twitter is better for you, then follow the project at
Facebook.com/ibiARTwestpalm or @ibiARTwestpalm

Sincerely,
IBI Group Team:  Glenn Weiss, Surale Phillips and Sybille Welter

Glenn, Surale and Sybille at DDA A&E Kickoff

 

See all the City’s Public Art On-line

The City of West Palm Beach GIS department maintain a webpage with the artworks in the city.  Click here to see them all.

West Palm Public Art on Google Maps

At least two public artworks in West Palm Beach are very easy to see on satellite setting of google maps – the mangrove island by Michael Singer and team and the brick plaza by Adrian Fisher at the Norton Museum.

Mangrove Islands by artist Michael Singer and team.

Brick plaza by Adrian Fisher at the Norton Museum

Public Art at Fire Rescue Station #3 in Northwood

Visiting Fire Rescue Station #3 in Northwood for a discussion of the Parks Master Plan, we discovered the public art:   architectural establishments of the station.  Mosaics, tile murals and relief carving are types of public art that have been a part of Mediterranean cultures for thousands of years.  These great traditions from the Babylonians to the Romans to the Spanish Moors influenced the architecture in Palm Beach County since the early 20th century.

On the ground before the community room, a latin phrase is written that means:  FROM MANY PEOPLES STRENGTH.

If you want to learn the history of the WPB Fire Rescue Service, visit the website.

Here is the public art.

Fire Station 3 Plaster Relief

Fire Station 3 Mosaic by Jeff Halverson:  Translation:  From Many Peoples Strength

Fire Station 3 Mosaic by Jeff Halverson 

Fire Station 3 Palm Mosaics by Jeff Halverson

Fire Station 3  Handpainted Tiles

Fire Station 3 Handpainted Tile Mural

Fire Station 3 Handpainted Tile Mural

If you know the artist, please send us an email at ibiARTwestpalm@gmail.com.

Eduardo Mendieta Mural on West Clematis

Eduardo Mendieta‘s mural at 534 West Clematis Street still looks good after a year.  If you are at the Subculture Coffee or just walking downtown, look through the bushes and enjoy the work.  Located on the southside of Clematis between Rosemary and the railroad tracks.

Eduardo Mendieta Mural at 534 West Clematis