The City of Orlando issued a request for proposals in July 2020 that we told you about HERE, asking for submissions for a new three-dimensional art piece that would be installed along the I-4 corridor.
The proposed artwork will be placed near the Colonial Drive Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Colonial Drive, north of Concord Street, east of Garland Avenue and I-4, and west of the CSX railway.
The City of Orlando was awarded $400,000 by the I-4 Ultimate Art Endowment Program, which is funding multiple installations all along the interstate. $50,000 of that award will be retained by the City for any repair or maintenance costs in the future.
Out of 308 submissions for the project, a City-appointed I-4 Ultimate Art Committee has selected four finalists, with the the top choice being a submission by Hunter Brown.
Brown’s 36-foot-tall Solidarity will be comprised of 316-grade stainless steel and weigh approximately 10,000 pounds when completed. We’ve attached the artist’s statement below:
“Solidarity is a modern stainless steel sculpture design, composed of twisting ribbon-like forms that extrude upward in space, embracing a large reflective sphere high in the sky. The sphere represents our world and the communities we live in. The forms in this design appear to be lifting the sphere upward in the sky in a prevailing fashion. These forms join together as one at the base, where they loop around, becoming visually anchored by a cantilevered arch. The arch is a structure with deep resonance. It embodies and is symbolic of strength, support, and thresholds in time. The relationship between forms in the Solidarity design reflects our relationships in our communities, and in our world. There is strength in unity, working together, and a collective effort for the greater good. In a year of trials, pandemic, and division this is more important now than ever.”
The sculpture is expected to be installed by the end of summer 2021.
Click HERE to see the winning design by RLF Architects which will be installed in Winter Park by the end of the year.
I think it’s beautiful. Too bad no one will be able to see it stuck back there in a hole. No one can get to that “park” because it’s hemmed in by I-4 and Colonial — a no man’s land for bicyclists and pedestrians. Even if you can get to it, how peaceful will the “park” be with cars, trucks and motorcycle whizzing by at high speed on all sides? Also, I’d been told by an I-4 Partners PIO a couple of years ago that there were plans to spend $1 million on a mural on the walls under the I-4 bridge over Colonial. Guess that has been value-engineered out just like they did away with the fountains in the lakes, cool bridge lighting, decorative ponds with fountains, and living palm trees for the landscapes. Instead, the new road is uglier than what was there since they cut down all the trees to pave paradise.
So this decision comes during a pandemic? And all that money could be used to help the families being displaced by the pandemic, and the homeless to get permanent shelters. WTF? All that money for a useless statue? What the crap isvwrong with our society and our city? Who makes these stupid decisions?
In all fairness, the money isn’t coming from a general fund, it’s been earmarked for art uses only, by the County. It’s part of a tithe put onto large, expensive projects to make sure they give back to the community through the arts.