Pieces of Art
Glistening in the sunlight, a new mosaic made up of 217,000 half–inch tiles is the newest addition to Boca Raton’s growing public art scene. Located by the family pavilion at Sugar Sand Park, the large–scale mosaic Boca Raton Mosaic Composition 1 showcases the native flora and fauna of South Florida and is the first mosaic at a district–owned park.
The piece was conceptualized from watercolor works by James Prosek, whose work has been on display everywhere from the Norton Museum of Art to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Yale Center for British Art, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center and more. He’s known for marrying his love of conservation with his art, and after selecting watercolors he’s created over the last 20 years, Boston–based Artaic translated the painted works onto the many different colored tiles to make the mosaic.
Now, what was an unassuming wall is filled with imagery of alligators, sea turtles, spoonbill, mangroves, seagrapes, hammerhead sharks, and in the distance, a fishing boat. In a crest over the piece, the lunar cycle represents the tidal cycle, a passage of time, day in and day out. The permanent mosaic is free for all to enjoy.
