Public Art in the City of Winter Park, Florida Preview

RLF Architects

Rhythmic Colors. 2021

I-4 northbound ramp at West Fairbanks Ave. Winter Park, Fl

Rhythmic Colors was installed in 2021 near the West Faribanks Ave. northbound I-4 entry ramp. The installation consists of 100 18 foot powder coated colored poles that line the entry ramp. The I-4 Ultimate Art Endowment Program funded the installation and RLH Architect's design was selected in 2019 by the Winter Park Public Art Advisory Board. The colorful poles were inspired by the unique colors of the city and it's bending form mimics movement and rhythm.

Joseph Testa-Secca

Winter Park Post Office Stone Mosaic. 1965

This Mid-Century Modern mosaic was installed by artist Joseph Testa-Secca in 1965. Testa-Secca also won the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival's Best of Show in the same year. The mosaic is made up of painted stones affixed to the wall of the mid-century modern post office building. There are two murals on the building, one facing the parking lot and the other facing New York Ave. Testa-Secca has a "sister mural" at the campus of USF in Tampa, Florida.

Joseph Testa-Secca. mosaic mural 2

Diane Gillett Boswell

Tree Whispers. 2014

Tree Whispers was created by artist and architect Diane Gillett Boswell of Winter Park. The installation made up of eight double-sided panels with mirrored photos of a tabebuia tree in bloom. The artwork was paid for with the Art in Transit grant from the Florida Department of Transportant and selected by the Winter Park Public Art Advisory board in 2014. Tree Whispers welcomes vistors at it's location at the Winter Park Sunrail and Amtrak station. In an article from the Orlando Sentinel Boswell is said to have been inspired by finding out that Milford Foster had brought the Tabebuia seeds to Winter Park after discovering them along a train track in South America.

Lloyd Leblanc

Peacock Fountain. 2014

This bronze peacock is made in the memory of classmate and friend Elizabeth Buckley. Peacock Fountain was installed in 2014 and is a centerpiece to Central Park's rose garden. The project was funded by the Eagle Scout Service Project by John Michael Thomas and the sculpture itself was bronze casted by Lloyd Leblanc.

Jane Manus

A 1993

Overlooking Lake Osceola, A is a large welded aluminum sculpture painted with white aircraft paint. It is located at the entrance of Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour and donated by Micheline Kramer in honor of Sumner Kramer.

Forest Idyl

Albin Polasek (1875-1965)

Robert Chambers

Molecular Dog C3H8. 2006

(b.1958) Miami based American artist and son of biophysicist. This sculpture is a bronze depiction of the propane molecule in the shape of a dog. Chamber's combines science and visual art to"bring attention to...the importance of ecology in today's world." Molecular Dog C3H8 was installed in 2006 with the help of the Winter Park Public Art Advisory board and local sponsors.

Marie Carrasquillo, Daryl Golden, Willy Lopez, Virginia Maxfield and many students, artists and volunteers from the community

Community Pride. 2007

This wall relief mosaic was created in 2007 for the Winter Park Community Center with the help of over 500 local artists, students and volunteers. The mural illustrates the story of the 1887 election when " the citizens of Hannibal Square joined together and crossed the tracks to vote, electing two African American aldermen"

Community Pride in Hannibal Square is a mosaic mural which was created by over 500 students, artists, and volunteers from Killarney Elementary School, Dommerich Elementary School, Crealdé School of Art, and Winter Park Community Center. The mosaic depicts the 1887 election when citizens of Hannibal Square joined together to cross the railroad tracks in order to vote for incorporation and the election of two black aldermen to the city council. The three largest figures depicted are Frank Israel and Walter Simpson, the elected aldermen, and Gus Henderson, publisher of the local black newspaper, The Advocate. The mosaic was produced in partnership with The Golden Rule Foundation, and with major funding from The Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation, The City of Winter Park, and the Walt Disney World Helping Kids Shine program.

Gus Henderson, a Florida native, was born in November 1862 near Lake City. His mother died when he was only 10 years old, so he took up odd jobs in his neighborhood. Later in his twenties, after a short stint as a salesman for a New York company, Henderson moved to Winter Park in 1886. Becoming involved in the town’s civic affairs, he started a printing and press shop, and founded a weekly newspaper, The Advocate. As the push for incorporation of Winter Park as a town was gaining traction, some in Winter Park opposed the inclusion of Hannibal Square. They found it unfair that the primarily black home renters would be levying taxes on land owners. Henderson argued that it made no difference, and that all residents had a right to be involved in the issue. There were also fears that the Republican black population of the town would hold a voting majority over Democratic white voters, as most of the area's white residents were Northerners who only lived in Winter Park seasonally.

At the first vote on September 10th, 1887, a quorum was not met since most black voters had stayed home, due to the interference of a Winter park businessman, J.C. Stovin, who convinced many residents of Hannibal Square that the incorporation was a ruse to make them pay higher taxes. In response, Henderson and his colleagues went door to door and pleaded with their neighbors to come out and vote. This culminated in Henderson leading a group of black voters in a procession from Hannibal Square to the voting hall on October 12th, where quorum was achieved. Thus, Winter Park was incorporated as a town, with Hannibal Square included. Two black men, Walter Simpson and Frank Israel, were elected as aldermen, the first and last black elected officials in Winter Park.

Richard Hallier

Girl with Doves. 1998

Installed in 1998 at Winter Park City Hall, the sculpture recently has been moved to the Martin Luther King Jr. Park outside of the Winter Park Library and Events Center.

Polasek