ArtLife WPB

Public Art for an Inspired City

Public Art Story Map

We are Proud to Welcome You to ArtLife WPB

Culture can help shape the character of a community. West Palm Beach's ArtLife Public Arts program helps to bring public art that creates local pride and heightens our sense of cultural diversity. With Sybille Welter, Director of Arts, Culture and Community Building for the City of West Palm Beach, Florida. Listen to learn about the City's ArtLife on our City Center Podcast.

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Explore Our New Community Public Art Project

A Community Portrait: West Palm Beach is a city wide public art project, where artists and photographers unite to build and create community awareness through black and white portraits.

 

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Hawaiian artist HULA (Sean Yoro) returned to West Palm Beach to repaint two of the city's beloved murals under the Royal Park Bridge.

Originally commissioned through CANVAS 2015 & 2016 and led by founder Nicole McGraw (formerly Henry), the FDOT bridge is once again the site for the vibrant and realistic work of HULA. The two underpaintings are Kukui, the woman with her hand on her forehead, and Heau, the woman leaning her head on her left arm.

This project was funded by ArtLife WPB in agreement with FDOT.

About the artist
Los Angeles-based visual artist, Hula (formally Sean Yoro) has been utilizing his Hawaiian roots to inspire both his work and the wide range of environments they are created in. In 2015, Hula first established his career while in New York City with his first murals painted on ocean walls while balancing on his paddle board. Since then, Hula has expanded his body of work on a global scale - from forest and sea floors to icebergs and waterfalls, the always-changing environments have kept Hula pushing both his creative and physical limits.

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Blum Park and Northwood Village Shimmers With Metal Art

Local artist Molly Aubry has completed the first half of her work, Prismatic Tessellations, a steel sculpture on display at Blum Park and at various locations in Northwood Village.

Prismatic Tessellations explores the tension between graphic geometry and organic, moss-like growth. These steel sculptures aim to invite a sense of play, discovery, and wonder in unexpected locations throughout Northwood Village.

“I hope that these geometric contemporary metal forms, installed in unexpected locations, provide the viewer a sense of play, discovery, and wonder,” artist Molly Aubry said.

This commission came out of a partnership between the CRA and ArtLife to bring distinct artwork to Northwood Village and Blum Park.

Molly Aubry
Prismatic Tessellations, 2023
Steel sculpture

Molly's sculpture was featured on Hoodline, Miami.

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ArtLife in the News

WPB Magazine(PDF, 6MB) features the West Palm Beach City Hall Courtyard artwork of Diane Arrieta in Summer 2023 edition.

Note: after a lengthy stay in the City Hall Courtyard, this artwork has been decommissioned to make room for a new exhibit.

ArtLife WPB Public Art Commission
The Commons: 8 Artists 8 Spaces
City of West Palm Beach

Artist Nekisha Durrett

Nekisha Durrett's, Genius Loci, located in Heart & Soul Park, was featured in PRINT, a California-based online design news magazine.

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ArtLife WPB is the City's public art program. We exist to shape how public art is imagined, seen, and experienced throughout the City's neighborhoods and shared spaces.

In West Palm Beach, we see art everywhere. It is present in our public and private spaces and appears as distinctive visual arts and greenspaces, historic and contemporary architectural treatments, and captivating murals on buildings and water towers. Each provides a unique occasion for self-reflection and for connecting with others.

Our name is inspired by a collective belief that in West Palm Beach we live, work, and play in spaces where art is a daily experience and a common source of inspiration. We take pride in how our surroundings reflect the spirit of living in West Palm Beach — a spirit we share with our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and visitors.

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Your City, Your Art

Public art is for everyone. ArtLife WPB is implemented by City staff and the ArtLife WPB Committee under the City Commission and in partnership with the community to embody our core conviction: that art is integral to our everyday lives and vital to the character and quality of life in West Palm Beach.

What makes West Palm Beach so alive in the arts? ArtLife WPB curates, commissions, and presents a variety of projects created by artists at all career levels. The City Commission adopted the first Public Art Master plan in 2015 and updated it in 2020. The plan guides the intentional development of art and artists from around the globe to bring extraordinary art experiences to our local public. Whether you come to live, work, or play, the appeal of West Palm Beach is undeniably attached to its artistic and cultural expression.

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Photo Credits

• Materials SG II Yinka Shonibare, CBE, image credit Van Richardson
• Let The Future Unfold by DASS, image credit DASS