CultureNOW - Sargassum: Michele Oka Doner, Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places and Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

Sargassum

www.micheleokadoner.com

Michele Oka Doner is an internationally renowned artist whose career spans
five decades. Whether in large scale architectural projects or intimately scaled objects, her work is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world. Her numerous public art installations include Radiant Site at New York’s Herald Square subway, Flight at Reagan International Airport and A Walk on the Beach at The Miami International Airport. She is perhaps best known for A Walk on the Beach. With its 9,000 unique bronzes embedded in terrazzo with mother-of-pearl stretching for over a miles at Miami Airport’s North Terminal, it is one of the nation’s largest public art installations. Her public work can also be found in federal courthouses, libraries, hospitals, universities, and parks throughout the U.S. Represented by Marlborough Gallery, New York, Oka Doner’s work is in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Virginia Museum, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Yale Art Gallery, and Princeton University Art Museum, among others. Publications about her work include Natural Seduction (Hudson Hills Press, 2003), Workbook (Oka Press, 2004), and HumanNature (Edizioni Charta, 2008). Oka Doner’s numerous honors include the Pratt Legends Award and The United Nations Society of Writers and Artist’s Award of Excellence. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, she received a B.S.D. in 1965, an M.A. in 1966 and a Distinguished Alumnus award in 1994. She lectures widely, including a recent presentation on art and architecture hosted by the Yale University Art Gallery.

In December, 2013, Oka Doner completed installation of “Micco,” a massive structure combining architecture and art in a giant steel and concrete cave-like form that serves both as a monumental place marker at the center of the new city of Doral Florida, and as a pavilion and platform where citizens can enjoy cultural and civic events. In the next twelve months she will have solo exhibitions at Christie’s, New York, Marlborough Gallery New York, and at the Perez Art Museum, Miami.

A native of Miami Beach, Oka Doner lives and maintains a studio in New York City.

Courtesy of Michele Oka Doner

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http://www.miamidade.gov/publicart/

Miami-Dade Art in Public Places serves the community through the implementation of art installations and educational programming dedicated to enriching the public environment and to preserving and enhancing the artistic and civic pride of Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade Art in Public Places promotes collaboration and creative art projects that improve the visual quality of public spaces. At their most successful, these public art installations can transform public spaces from ordinary civic areas to sites that can lift the spirit and connect with the community.

One of the first public art programs in the country, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places was established in 1973 with the passage of an ordinance allocating 1.5% of construction cost of new county buildings for the purchase or commission of artworks. Art in Public Places is overseen by a citizens’ Trust appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. The Trust receives recommendations on acquisitions and commissions from the Professional Advisory Committee, an independent group of arts professionals.

For more than a decade, the focus of the program has been on site-specific, collaborative projects that involve the thinking of artists, landscape architects, historians, engineers, and architects in a team approach. Creative problem solving through innovative collaborations has resulted in projects that validate, define, and expand community identity.

The goals of the program are several: to enhance the artistic heritage of Miami-Dade County, to give dimension to the public environment for residents and visitors, to increase public awareness to works of art, and to promote understanding and awareness of the visual arts. The Art in Public Places program has given Miami-Dade County national visibility in the arts and a leadership role in public programming. Through Art in Public Places, the County supports the development of a unique and vital civic environment.

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Artist
Michele Oka Doner

Collections
Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

Dates

Installed, 2012

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Description

The main thoroughfare of the Miami Intermodal Center features artist Michele Oka Doner’s stunning etched glass vestibule ceiling. The work pays homage to Sargassum, the free-floating oceanic forms that migrate throughout the more temperate and tropical oceans of the world. These thick, drifting masses act as a mobile habitat for a distinctive group of marine animals and plants, many of which are not found elsewhere. In describing the concept of the work, Oka Doner stated, “The sea itself is...

Courtesy of Michele Oka Doner

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Location

Miami International Airport (MIA) Metrorail Station
2100 NW 42nd Ave
Miami, FL 33126
United States

Nearby Items

Atea		13 feet
A Walk on the Beach (Phase I)		13 feet
Realm of Secrets		26 feet
Parabolic Flight		40 feet
Harmonic Convergence		893 feet
Harmonic Runway		1.2 miles
Ghost Palms		1.2 miles