Client: Florida Department of Transportation | Florida Turnpike: West Palm Beach Plaza

Overview

Artist Xavier Cortada places 36 puzzle pieces above each entrance of Florida Turnpike's West Palm Beach Plaza to create an image of wildflowers descending upon a Florida landscape.

Goals

“Each of us holds a piece of the puzzle in our hand. Each of us has a role in helping shape Florida’s natural history,” said Cortada. “We can help reclaim nature, one yard at a time, by planting wildflower gardens to support our pollinators.”

Process

Florida’s Turnpike is driving audiences to art exhibits by Xavier Cortada depicting Florida’s sun, animals and flowers. In 2015, Florida Turnpike invited Cortada to create permanent art installations in three turnpike plazas, making them cultural destinations in and of themselves. Each focused on a different aspect of the sunshine state’s natural beauty: Endangered Animals (Ft. Drum Plaza) | Sunshine (Turkey Lake Plaza) | Wildflowers (West Palm Beach Plaza).

Additional Information

Project aimed to educate about Wildflowers: Wildflowers, with help of their pollinators, help make Earth verdant: Plant life sustains all animals (including humans) and balance atmospheric gases (that accelerate global climate change). Wildflowers would naturally continue to blanket our planet were it not for the displacement caused by the concrete we’ve poured and the parcels we’ve platted to build our homes and grow our society. Help reverse the trend: Show us your wild side. Plant wildflowers in your yard.