In celebration of the Centennial, the garden club commissioned an art piece from famed eco-artist Xavier Cortada that exemplifies the commitment to our environment and the future. This piece will reside at the Coral Gables Library in the butterfly garden the club installed in 2001.
The piece as described by the artist himself :
I will create a unique site-specific sculpture to celebrate the Coral Gables Garden Club's centennial anniversary. Inspired by the rich history and vibrant community of the Coral Gables Garden Club, this project aims to commemorate this milestone through the beauty of public art while highlighting the importance of supporting pollinators within our shared ecosystem. I will draw inspiration from the pollinators being supported at the Coral Gables Library Butterfly Garden; I plan to create a spherical orb clad in hand-carved ceramic tile to represent the pollen these animals help to disperse. The tiles will be carved and arranged to depict pollinators such as Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris), American Bumblebees (Bombus pensylvanicus), Goldenrod Soldier Beetles (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus), and Miami Blue Butterflies (Cyclargus thomasi) forming the very flowers they help propagate. These flowers will be created in various colorful hues against a verdant background.
This design will reflect the flourishing spirit of the Coral Gables Garden Club and add a visually captivating element to the community space. This visual aesthetic ensures that the artwork fully integrates with its surroundings, transforming the space into an immersive art experience celebrating the club's 100 years of gardening, community, and environmental stewardship. The design will also feature a QR code that will link to his website, Cortada Foundation, which will have links to various necessary resources like The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami Blue Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS), and Native Plant Network - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, UF's Butterfly Guide, Pollinators - Florida Wildflower Foundation and last but certainly not least the Coral Gables Garden Club website. A pollinator coloring book created by the club will also be available in the library, as well as other brochures and reading materials.
The committee and Xavier gave presentations to three city boards, with several revisions, but ultimately got a unanimous vote to proceed from all. Finally, the City Commission Meeting on August 27th, at which the commission unanimously voted to accept this gift from the club and "Planting Pollinators" by Xavier Cortado will now become a permanent piece of public art that will engage children and adults for years. As one commissioner stated, this will be a place for people to come over and over again for peace and tranquility and to enjoy being immersed in art, nature, and education. Congratulations to the Coral Gables Garden Club for the vision and a job well done!
