Broward County was formed in 1915. It was named for Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward who was responsible for draining much of the Everglades making South Florida habitable. Fort Lauderdale which began as an actual fort became the County seat. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway made it accessible. What began as a sleepy agricultural community a hundred years ago is now the second most populous county in Florida.

With tourism one of the major industries, it is logical to house a significant percentage of the county's public art collection at Port Everglades and the Ft Lauderdale - Hollywood Airport, which are often the first and (sometimes last) impressions visitors have of the area. Like most of public art programs, commissions are split between local and national artists. What interested us is where they turned for inspiration. In their artist statements, much is said about the Everglades, the weather, the hurricanes, the beaches, the ocean, and even the fish, and leisure activities.

For Martha Schwartz it was the largest Arena in the Everglades that inspired Flying Saucer Grove. For Jodi Pinto who created four Light Cylinders in the Hibiscus Garage color- keyed to match the colors of the terminal building, it was wayfinding. For Christopher Janney it was the colors of the ocean in Shadow Boxing. For Miles Batt in the Florida Envelope Series it was the idea of Florida itself.

FEATURED ARTIST: LARRY KIRKLAND

Larry Kirkland received his undergraduate degree in environmental design before becoming an artist which is evident in the immersive, architectural settings that he creates. His sculptures work by incorporating symbolism derived from overlaying site specific cultural elements, natural themes, and sometimes scientific components to create a rich layering of content. There are often many parts to the compositions.

At Richard Stockton College's Campus Center, he recently completed Illumination an overscaled fireplace which is meant to be the heart of the Center. It is liberally covered with etchings of the wildlife found in the area. The Osprey, for instance, one of the state's largest raptors, is the College's official mascot. Fans even chant Osprey calls at sporting events.

The shape of the bench in Around Town refers to the rolling landscape of the Piedmont area. Aquaria at the Broward County Convention Center evokes the experience of being immersed in a constantly moving school of colorful tropical reef fish. And The Lobby for the National Science Foundation poses the question of How does one convey, at the outset of the 21st century, the origins and evolution of human investigation of the world as well as the contributions to society made by the sciences, medicine and engineering?

YEAR END APPEAL:

Because cultureNOW is a 501c3 non-profit (the good kind), we depend on many people to help us out. They lend their expertise, which often includes giving us advice. Some of it is about how to improve our balance sheet which could certainly use lots of improvement.

At the end of the year we are supposed to remind people of how poor and worthy we are so that they will reposition their checking accounts favorably in our direction. We have been told that we need to share with them the trials and tribulations of running a lightly funded organization in a positive way emphasizing all the successful programs we have accomplished. It is recommended that we mail it out and include a return envelope for ease of donation.

We have been dutifully studying all of the plaintive missives that flood our mailbox from organizations we are barely acquainted with. After careful consideration we suspect that most people will do exactly what we do with them. Which is to say that they will immediately recycle them leaving everything unopened and unread. Consequently, we thought that it might be better to include our end-of-year appeal in our newsletter which people actually read, instead of the real mail that they don't. So, please be generous and push the donate button. For us, it makes a HUGE difference as we do pay our interns but not nearly what they are worth. We promise to happily send anyone who makes a contribution one of our New York City Public Art maps as a thank you.