BROWARD COUNTY, FL – A public artwork display at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has been honored by the Americans for the Arts as a 2017 outstanding public art project through the Public Art Network Year in Review program. The program is the only national program that specifically recognizes the most compelling public art.
The display, entitled Wavelength, is a site-specific, awe-inspiring, suspended sculpture installed in the newly built Concourse A at Terminal 1. The massive painted metal structure appears to float weightlessly with gradient colors and shapes that change as you move.
The artwork’s concept was inspired by the way light transforms into color when it refracts through water. According to the artist Emily White, “This sculpture addresses the specificity of place. Air travel can be a disorienting experience, full of places that are simultaneously generic and unfamiliar. Wavelength represents hues of water and light isolated as bands in a spectrum specific to the Atlantic Ocean in South Florida.”
“We are thrilled and proud to receive our seventh award from such a prestigious national organization. Being able to contribute to the cultural growth of the Broward community, especially at such an important gateway as Broward’s FLL, is what we aim to do,” said Cultural Division Acting Director, Leslie Fordham.
“Improving the airport experience for both County residents and visitors is a significant part of our core mission at FLL,” said Mark Gale, CEO/Director of Aviation. “We aspire to create positive memories through public art and being recognized for creating one of the best public artworks in the country in 2017 is a testament to the hard work of all those involved in its implementation.”
“The best of public art can challenge, delight, educate, and illuminate. Most of all, public art creates a sense of civic vitality in the cities, towns, and communities we inhabit and visit,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “As these Public Art Network Year in Review selections illustrate, public art has the power to enhance our lives on a scale that little else can. I congratulate the artists and commissioning groups for these community treasures, and I look forward to honoring more great works in the years to come.”
About Broward Cultural Division
Broward Cultural Division is a local arts agency, one of thousands across the U.S. providing financial, technical and marketing assistance to artists and arts organizations. Broward County has nearly 1.9 million residents, 15.4 million visitors, 10,000 artists, 6,291 arts-related businesses employing 23,498 people, 823 not-for-profit cultural organizations and 31 cities, some of which operate their own arts councils and public art programs. Visit our website and follow us @BrowardArts on Twitter and Facebook.
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, it has a record of more than 55 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
DATE: June 18, 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Meredith Clements
PHONE: 954-357-7463
EMAIL: mclements@broward.org