$100K glass sculpture planned

Springs artist’s proposal selected from pool of 35 applicants

A piece of art created by a Coral Springs resident will add color to the ArtWalk that is under construction in the city’s downtown area.

At a recent City Commission meeting, officials approved an agreement with glass artist Zach- ary Knudson for a 13-foot-tall work that will act as an entryway sculpture for the ArtWalk. The sculpture will cost $100,000, with the money coming from the city’s public art fund.

Titled “Beyond,” the sculpture is made of infinity glass with powder-coated aluminum and LED lights.

“It is a special sculpture; noth- ing has ever been done before to this scale,” Knudson said. “Coral Springs will have a piece of art that is truly cutting edge.”

“We had 35 artists submit proposals,” said Jim Hickey, assistant director of development services. “We narrowed them down to three. We had the finalists at the BizArt Festival so that folks could look and vote on them.”

The sculpture, which combines several glass etching and lighting techniques using many layers of specialty glass to create a feeling of infinity, will be interactive.

“People can actually walk right through it,” Knudson said. “It is all made from laminated glass. It is very strong and scratch-resistant.”

“We don’t get public art requests too often,” Commissioner Dan Daley said. “… But I do think we need to think outside the box. We need to be innovative if we truly need this downtown to blossom.”

Vice Mayor Larry Vignola stressed that tax dollars will not be used for the project.

“It is not money that we can use for other things. It is impact fees, set aside for public art,” he said.