“Art picks up where nature ends,” said renowned French artist Marc Chagall. 

Today, an ecologically inspired mural graces the interior walls of the Courthouse Center garage in downtown Miami. The mural, which pays homage to South Florida’s unique biodiversity, speaks to the interdependency of the ecosystem and urbanization. 

In an unparalleled collaboration, MPA engaged with its close neighbor, the New World School of the Arts (NWSA), to create a mural that depicts, honors, and celebrates the rich ecological heritage of Miami. A mural is important to MPA because it is an artistic expression that the public can enjoy.

The NWSA, a center nationally recognized for artistic and academic excellence in the arts, encompasses an educational partnership between Miami Dade College, Miami-Dade County Public Schools System, and the University of Florida, the latter dubbed the Ivy League university of the south. 

The mural was completed ahead of this year’s Art Basel fair to allow the student artists to aspire and dream about someday participating in this exclusive museum-quality international event. Celebrating its 20^th anniversary in Miami and Miami Beach, Art Basel is regarded as North America’s most comprehensive international contemporary art fair. Art Basel Miami and Miami Beach is one of only four Art Basel fairs in the world; the others are in Hong Kong and Paris, and the founding fair is in Basel, Switzerland. 

Since the inaugural Art Basel art fair in 2002, downtown Miami has experienced an artistic renaissance that has cemented the City’s urban reputation as an art and cultural hub. Facing the historic Biscayne Bay, the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) opening in 2013 solidified Miami’s ascension as a haven for art and culture. It is said that the PAMM became the catalyst for the dawn of the art scene that has steadily permeated other city neighborhoods such as Wynwood, the Design District, and, more recently, Little River. 

Woven into the tapestry of the downtown urban core, MPA owns and manages several parking assets in these neighborhoods. Therefore, it was logical that the Authority engaged with the local community to support the arts and cultural events at the grassroots level. 

In that vein, MPA commissioned the wall mural for its Courthouse Center garage to the talented Visual Arts students of the NWSA. This initiative has engaged student artists to design a Miami-inspired artwork to cover three walls inside the public facility. The mural, Environs, has become the subject matter for a fall semester credit course. Through this effort, the students will earn college credits, acquire practical experience, and gain exposure for future public and commercial engagements. 

The visual art students from the NWSA come from diverse, multicultural, multi-ethnic backgrounds, thus imbuing their heritage into their art. They represent the vast mosaic of cultures and ethnicities that coexist and are synonymous with Miami. 

Three teams of student artists were engaged to develop the conceptual framework for the design. They envisioned an artwork that would be aesthetically pleasing yet purposeful while underscoring the critical importance of preserving the biodiversity of South Florida’s fragile ecosystem, its threatened habitat, and the future of sustainable urbanism. The students believed the mural would spark conversation and raise awareness of the delicate balance between the ecological and urban infrastructure. 

Environs drew its inspiration from the city of Miami’s flora and fauna. In large part, the Miami flora and fauna are rooted in the unique ecosystems of the national treasure known as the Florida Everglades. The history of South Florida is inextricably linked to water. Water is the lifeblood of the Everglades, and the wetlands are unique because their water source comes from rainfall, not the rivers. Much of South Florida’s drinking water comes from the Biscayne Aquifer, which extends beneath the Everglades; hence, the preponderance of nature in the design. 

The Florida Everglades features many trees, flowers, vines, and wildlife that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. They represent a variety of ecosystems where a plethora of species coexist. The Everglades harbor more than 300 species of wading birds and alligators, panthers, manatees, and crocodiles. Its biodiversity is in a class by itself. Thus, it is essential to incorporate the flora and fauna that are original to the local ecosystem.

The mural contains forms and elements reminiscent of South Florida’s elegant birds and native tropical plants. The representation of various bird species alongside overlaying shades of color form a geometrized scene or landscape. These transparent planes of color and compositional lines create movement and rhythm that flow from one end of the piece to the other. The intention is to bring the outside environment into the parking garage and to remind the residents and visitors of the building and what it means to be in the great city of Miami.