Art is everywhere including in nature. Case in point, the Living Art Festival on Miami Beach, a botanical art installation, that fuses natural elements with artistic creativity.
The festival was initiated by the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District (BID) in collaboration with the city of Miami Beach and five local landscape designers: The Miami Beach Botanical Garden, the Miami Beach Garden Club, Habitat, ULU Studio, L&ND Design, and Urban Robot Associates.
Through April 30, 2024, the work of Living Art creators will be exhibited in redesigned landscape planters along Lincoln Road, spanning from Meridian to Washington avenues, particularly between the 400 and 700 blocks.
Lyle Stern, president of the Lincoln Road BID, says that the initiative draws inspiration from international botanical festivals such as the International Garden Festival in Quebec and the Festival des Jardins de la Côte d’Azur in France.
“Each designer (brought) their creative vision to life, enhancing existing planters with custom designs centered around flowers, plants, art, and ground coverings. The goal was to engage and partner with Miami Beach-based landscape architects and the Miami Beach Botanical Garden to expand on the lush landscaping on Lincoln Road and create engaging moments,” says Stern.
Ben Noyes, showcasing his work at 690 Euclid in collaboration with Overland Landscape and Plant the Future, emphasizes that the design not only offers visual stimuli but also engages the senses of hearing, smell, touch, and taste. The inclusivity takes into consideration individuals with sensory disabilities, providing various ways to experience the design.
“We thought about how most landscapes are typically experienced visually and really wanted this to be a space that evokes all the senses,” says Noyes.
Noyes further connects the project to the concept of biophilic design, highlighting the inherent fusion of nature and art and the human connection with nature. The aim is to encourage an immersive experience that engages all the senses in appreciating both art and nature, he says.
Urban Robot Associates is showcasing “Butterfly Wishes,” which repurposes living plants as sculpture, emphasizing their significance and offering a novel perspective on nature. Justine Velez describes the exhibit as “interactive and immersive,” allowing viewers to admire, touch, move, listen, sit, speak, and even inhabit the space.
ULU Studio, a boutique landscape architecture studio, whose work is in outdoor spaces for urban parks, and L&ND Design, an environmental planning and landscape designer, updated the planters on the 700 block of Lincoln Road in collaboration with Overland Landscape and Orchidscapes for the installation.
The Miami Beach Botanical Garden joined forces with the Miami Beach Garden Club to reimagine the 600 block of Lincoln Road, which they turned into a Pollinator Pathway.
“We curated a garden with plants capable of supporting pollinators in a challenging urban environment, ” says Derwyn Cowdy of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. “The organic materials used on the project warmly echo the inherent message. Lincoln Road is a unique shopping experience alongside historic architecture and a botanical garden. Our living art exhibit offers an immersive and educational addition.”
The botanical art was activated on Dec. 12.
