This is one of my favorite public art pieces in Coral Springs. I pass it all the time traveling…read moreeast and west on Atlantic Boulevard. There is something about the elegant lines of the figures playing with a colorful ball that always puts a smile on my face. ColorPlay was created by award winning Columbus, Ohio artist Stephen Canneto in 2013. His art is displayed in Ohio, Maryland, Germany, and here in Coral Springs. About his art Canneto has said "I believe art is fundamental to community health. Art tells the stories of who we are, have been and are yet to become. Through it humanity comes to know itself. My goal is to create art that celebrates life, the human spirit and builds bonds between each other and the places we live, work and play. My commitment is to create enduring works and memorable experiences that impact individuals and communities long into the future." The art installation is 18 feet high and made out of stainless steel, colored glass, and concrete. The silver colored figures are meant to represent generations of people joined in work and play and the colors in the ball reflect the diversity in the city. ColorPlay was selected in a competition by the Coral Springs, Florida Arts Commission to create an art piece at the entrance to the city. Since their first public art project, the covered bridge in 1963, Coral Springs has become one of the leading public art cities in south Florida. The art is paid for with fees for development and redevelopment in the city. Fees are collected from permits during building construction and renovations in the city. The city agreed to purchase ColorPlay for $75,000 and the art was installed as part of Coral Springs 50th anniversary celebration. As you enter the city and see ColorPlay you are reminded that Coral Springs is a city with strong family ties and that it celebrates its residents. I really love the Coral Springs Public Art Program which seeks to not have art just be something you visit in a museum but is instead incorporated into our every day lives.

Inspiration Way was envisioned by the city of Tamarac as a "museum without walls." It is a…read morecollection of 12 temporary sculptures that run along Nob Hill Road between Commercial Boulevard and McNab Road. The installations were selected by the the Tamarac Public Art Committee because they "promote appreciation of fine art, enhance outdoor spaces and enrich lives." All of the sculptures are for sale with 25 percent of each sale going to support the public art program. The current sculptures on display were unveiled on April 28, 2022 and they will remain until spring of 2023. Three of the sculptures that were displayed on Inspiration Way in 2021 were purchased by the city and are now installed elsewhere. I like many of the current sculptures which include a blue seahorse named Sea Dance by artist Robin Morgan. Made out of aluminum it is available for $7,600. Another stand out piece is a large white elephant by James Futrel. Made out of recycled metal it can be yours for $5,000. My favorite piece is a peacock by Flaminio Antonio and called The Elegance of Simplicity. When you look closely at it you can see it is made out of forks, spoons, car rim, and iron sheet. It is selling for $6,500. I stumbled on this art parade and I had to pull over and check it out. I stopped to take some pictures and soon some other people who were riding past on their bikes stopped to join me and talk. That is what I love so much about art, it sparks conversations. I really hope Tamarac chooses to add The Elegance of Simplicity to it's city wide art collection.

Olas the snowman makes an appearance every year over the Christmas period. Apparently he has a…read moredifferent them each year. I came for a look. It was nice to watch people take their Xmas snap shots. Debuted in 2015, he was named Olas as a nod to Las Olas Boulevard and a playful take on Disney's Olaf.

This snowman changes year to year (from its inception in 2015). If you're visiting Fort Lauderdale…read moreBeach, you might as well get your "snow"man ... sandman ... sand snowman photo. Viewing other picture on this post, I like 2025 better than the others. (Posting November 2025) Is Olas amazing ... well, maybe not that ... but with the entire waterfront dressed for Christmas, you should definitely take a picture with Olas too! It is a cute statue!

I have always loved this mural in Davie because it depicts one of my favorite subjects, history. In…read morethis case it is the history of the Town of Davie. You can find the Living History mural on a building in the Old Davie School Historical Museum complex on Griffin Road. Old Davie School is the first permanent school in the Everglades and is Broward County's oldest existing school building. It has been turned into a history museum and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Living History is part of the Broward County Centennial VisualEYES project which placed one mural in each of the nine Broward County Commission Districts and one at Port Everglades. Local artists were chosen to create the mural with community involvement and city initiatives. Living History was created by Andrew Reid, a renown graphic artist in his native New Zealand and in New York. In 1991 he moved to Miami where he creates art using a variety of media, including painted and carved murals, sculpture, and three dimensional wall pieces. Reid started with a digital rendering of this mural. He first painted the midtones and then painted from light to dark using 60 different colors. The mural blends together monochrome images of Davie's past while present day Davie is depicted in bright colors. The community offered a large number of suggestions of what they wanted to be included in the mural. The past images include a school teacher reading a book, a female farmer with a shotgun protecting her chickens, the words "In Zona" which was the original name for Davie, a young boy sitting on the handle of a plow with a frog in his pocket, and a woman attempting to hang laundry as the winds from the 1926 hurricane begin to blow. Contemporary images include a Seminole tribe member, a plane from the nearby airport, the Four H Club, a Boy Scout, a cowgirl, a bicyclist, an equestrian, and a hint of the Nova University skyline. Also included are scenes from nature and animals including oranges and orange blossoms, a goat, a pig, a rooster, a cow, and a zebra longwing butterfly, all in bright colors. Davie's agricultural roots are represented by a harvest of fresh carrots, broccoli and tomatoes. It is very clever how Andrew Reid was able to weave the past and present together to tell the story of Davie. Every time I look at the mural I discover something new. To learn even more about the history of Davie be sure and visit the Old Davie School Historical Museum.

Only a short drive from the Saw Palmetto Natural Area and could not find a designated parking lot…read moreon the North side, but I think it was at another end, so parked on the grass swale and walked inside. Very thick foliage on the sides of the cement paths that were like a serpentine shaded by large pine trees. A billboard had a game to find a bunch of different wildlife including snakes, birds and butterflies. Trying to locate butterflies without success but the main concern was a caution sign for coyotes in the area. Nice area to burn off some calories.

My family and I have enjoyed morning walks here. It's such…read morea clean preserve and the trail is not long. Highly recommend.

I was driving along 19th Street in North Miami when I saw this dog sculpture in front of City Hall…read moreand had to pull over to check out this adorable public art piece. Totor is an almost 10 foot high sculpture of a Jack Russell Terrier who looks quite fetching. He was created by French artist Stéphane Bolongaro who modeled it on his mother's pet terrier Totor. Stéphane Bolongaro is a former North Miami Beach gallery owner and he donated this sculpture to North Miami in 2016. That same year Totor was the featured piece in Mr. Bolongaro's art exhibition in Monaco that was hosted by Prince Albert II. In August 2017, Stéphane Bolongaro launched a second exhibition of Totor at the Promenade du Paillon in Nice, France. This is the only Totor sculpture exhibited in the United States. Totor is meant to represent the qualities of the City of North Miami, love, friendship, and loyalty. I personally love Tortor because he looks just like my Sunny. As a Jack Russell mom I can definitely say that they posses all those qualities. I really enjoyed discovering Totor today. Bolongaro deserves a round of a-paws!

In 1913, Arthur Galt, a Chicago lawyer, bought the property that is now named in his honor along…read morewith 8,000 acres west of the Intracoastal. Galt was the son of the law partner of Hugh Taylor Birch, who once owned most of what is today's Fort Lauderdale Beach. During Florida's Land Boom years in the 1920's, the the Countess of Lauderdale, Gwendolyn Maitland, decided to create a resort to rival Palm Beach in Fort Lauderdale. Her partners in the project included two Lords, a Viscount, an ex-King of Greece fellow aristocratic Palm Beachers, including society's ruling Grande dame, Mrs. E.T Stotesbury.The new resort town, incorporated on November 25, 1925, was called Floranada, a combination "Florida" and "Canada." The cornerstone was laid for Florinada Inn, a golf course was built and a narrow-gauge railroad was ordered. Hurricanes and the Great Depression caused the end of Florida's land boom. The company had sold only a few lots and the money on these was refunded and the land reverted to Galt with no other buyers. In 1927 the last remaining oceanfront public beaches in the city of Fort Lauderdale were declared off limits to blacks, so they used the Ocean Mile, which became known as the black beach. Galt held on and refused to sell his land to just anyone and he turned down an offer for a trailer park. In 1953, Coral Ridge Properties, Inc. formed by James S. Hunt and Stephen Calder purchased a tract of land from Arthur Galt from what is now Fort Lauderdale north from Sunrise Boulevard, between U.S. 1 and the Intracoastal Waterway north to Floranada Road plus the ocean frontage north of Oakland Park Boulevard. The sale was $19.4 million, the largest real estate development deal ever recorded in Florida at the time. Coral Ridge Properties subdivided the land and as sections were developed, they were annexed by the City of Ft. Lauderdale. Soon after hotels and other buildings began popping up. The first building was The Beach Club located where part of the L' Hermitage Condos now stand. The first oceanfront hotel, the four million, 257 room Galt Ocean Mile Hotel opened in 1957. Coral Ridge Properties then built the Ocean Manor, the first high-rise hotel with beach frontage. The Mile developed rapidly as a local and tourist hot spot and sales began to boom with The Fountainhead and The Ocean Summit followed by the Commodore in 1965. Galt Ocean Mile became the premier spot for affluent retirees from the Northeast, the Midwest and Canada who wanted to escape harsh winters and bathe in the sun. Today, the Galt Ocean Mile is lined with high-rise condominiums and luxury dwellings worth millions of dollars. It is prized for its restaurants on the Intracostal Waterway, marinas, and proximity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The community is considered to have the largest strip of high-rise condominiums in Fort Lauderdale and even has its own road, Galt Ocean Drive, which veers off State Road A1A at Oakland Park Boulevard. Through the years the once elderly population is shifting younger as it becomes attractive for up-and-coming professionals around the country. I like to visit Galt Ocean Mile for the restaurants like Smoke BBQ, shopping, and beach parks.

Stretching for about a mile along the beach is Galt Ocean Mile, a collection of the ugliest high…read morerise building structures ever created. They're mostly creations of the 70's and totally lacking in architectural design. They block any view of the beach and do their best to prevent public access to the beach, which though illegal, they get away with it anyway.

While driving down the Sawgrass Expressway one day I noticed Sunset Hammock, a public art work…read morelocated in Sunset Point Park in Tamarac. I made a mental note to come back and get a better look. Completed in November of 2023, this monumental new artwork was created by artist Margi Glavovic who was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and grew up in Durban, South Africa. In 1999 she founded Glavovic Studio, an architecture firm in Ft, Lauderdale,. Since its inception Glavovic Studios has created affordable housing, parks, commercial spaces, museums, landscapes, and public art commissions. Nature plays a large part in her design inspiration. Sunset Hammock is an interactive in-situ metal land bridge structure that transforms into a community periscope to view the Everglades. An observational boardwalk, which includes a modular red aluminum walkway leads to a large community periscope measuring 20 feet by 3 feet, which offers a view into the Everglades that lie beyond the Sawgrass Expressway. The hammock in the artworks name comes from the hammock ecosystem found in the Florida Everglades. It is a shady tropical forest found on higher elevations and which provide important habitat for many species of wildlife, including nine federally listed species. While most hammocks are now federally protected many acres were lost to developers who were looking for higher ground to build on. This artwork was designed to give visitors a glimpse into the nearby Florida Everglades while bringing together conceptual art and nature. With this art piece Glavovic wants to raise awareness about the critical role of the Everglades within the ecological balance of South Florida. The project was created to integrate the adjacent wetland with this community park. Sunset Hammock is part of the city's Public Art Program and was approved by the city commission in April 2021. In 2020 it won am AIA Fort Lauderdale Honor Award and has been awarded grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Florida Land and Water Conservation Fund. The $1.1 million art installation was funded through a $400K Land and Water Conservation Grant and Public Art Funds. I love the interactive nature of this art. It incorporates art, science, community, and nature to spark interest in the Everglades which will hopefully lead to more people learning about the importance of its ecosystem. It is also a great place to watch the sun set.

If you're on the sawgrass, you'll notice the red bridge. I was thrilled to find out this was…read moreminutes from my house. Very small park but a nice one. They have pavilions with electricity to rent (affordable, I rented one), grills , bathrooms on site, covered playground and off course the red bridge. Great for parties, picnics and more. Lots of parking. Very quiet park. No pets allowed!