PUBLIC ART PIECE UNVEILED
‘Emerging Mangrove’ created by Gardens artist
The new Casa Del Mar residential community unveiled its $77,756 public art piece called “Emerging Mangrove” Wednesday.
Incorporating public art is a city requirement for new developments. Developers are expected to put aside 1 percent of the construction value. Of that, 70 percent goes to paying for a public art piece and the remainder goes to the city’s public art department and its programs such as the International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium and the Avenue of the Arts, said Debby Coles-Dobay, the city’s public arts manager.
K. Hovnanian Homes, the owner of Casa Del Mar, chose artist Lucy Keshavarz and her mosaic tile mural.
Keshavarz is the owner of Art & Culture Group in Palm Beach Gardens. She used metal, stone and custom tiles to create the red mangrove or “walking” mangrove, according to a news release. The mural is visible from Federal Highway.
“The love of science and the natural environment are major influences in my life and art work,” Keshavarz said in a statement. “Much of my work in the public realm is to honor our natural environment, cycles of life and the interconnections we share and depend upon.”
The waterfront Casa Del Mar community is just south of Miner Road. It is composed of 69 townhomes and three single-family homes. While the development is still under construction, 15 townhomes have been sold. The first residents will move in at the end of January, said Maya Chocron, director of marketing at K. Hovnanian.