Project Objective:  To disguise the security gates and provide a whimsical, colorful space for the students to use and enjoy.  Each child participated by decorating a bee (the school mascot) to be included in the installation.  Three hundred and forty bees were cast for the project.  The larger than life flowers are painted aluminum.

For coverage of the full project, please visit the blog, Watch The Garden Grow, which was created so students, faculty and the public could follow the off-site progress of the project.

The project was sponsored by St. Lucie County Art In Public Places and facilitated by the St. Lucie County School District with enthusiastic participation by the students and staff of Garden City Early Learning Academy.  Owned by St. Lucie County

Location:  Garden City Early Learning Academy, Avenue Q and Martin Luther King Boulevard, Fort Pierce, FL

Budget:  $20,000

Collaborative with Anita Prentice.  Displayed in the exhibit, Without Walls 2, a county-wide outdoor sculpture show in St. Lucie County.

Presented by St. Lucie County Art In Public Places and the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council.  Purchased by the City Of Fort Pierce.  

Location:  Historic Old City Hall, Avenue A and US 1, Fort Pierce

Budget:  $9,000

- Who are you?  
We are The GAGA Girls, a play on the first letters of each of our first names.  We've been working together as art/business partners on the Treasure Coast for over 10 years.  

- What makes this partnership work so well?
We both have a similar philosophy on art and the creative process.  We like the quirky and the humorous.  We've always enjoyed a play on words.  So that's why "A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush" was such an appealing concept to us.  And because one of our mantras is 'when is too much enough', we added the "Snake In The Grass".

- Tell us about the piece, visually.
"A Bird In The Hand" is a stylized palm tree with large green hands as palm fronds with a bird perched in each hand.  Atop the fronds is a mirrored globe.  On the mosaic trunk is a knothole with two birds peaking out.  Slithering around the trunk on the base is a mosaic snake.

- Outside of the obvious, does this imagery have any other meaning?
 Yes.  Fort Pierce is in an upswing right now, a wonderful community in a beautiful setting and it's being recognized for that.  When we started to discuss the WOW 2 exhibit, we wanted to express this in our piece.  The tree became a symbol for the growth of Fort Pierce.  The "hand fronds" represent the many hands it takes to help a city flourish.  The trunk symbolizes the strong central core and "good bones" that make up Fort Pierce.  The wide spreading branches symbolize the far reaching role that Fort Pierce plays on the Treasure Coast.  And, finally, the mirrored dome represents the Sunrise City, aka Fort Pierce.

- What was the construction process for "A Bird In The Hand"?  
We had the mold for the hands.  We sculpted the bird and made a mold to cast multiples.  The trunk was made from a porch column purchased at a local builders' store.  The branches are 5/8" stainless rods which we had bent.  Then we cast the hands directly onto the rods, which extend 2 feet down into the trunk.  We hand mixed the concrete for the base and inside the trunk, all of which is reinforced with ribar extending up through the trunk continuously to the top.  The base and trunk are mosaic and the birds and crown are painted.  The birds, snake and local flora depicted on the trunk are all personal imagery for both of us.

- Where did you construct this piece?
We constructed "A Bird" behind historic Casa Caprona, built in 1926 and where Anita has her studio.  We love that the permanent site (the City of Fort Pierce purchased the sculpture at the end of the WOW 2 show) is in front of Old City Hall, another building of the same vintage and historical significance as Casa.

- Was it difficult to move the piece?
Well, it was interesting for us.  Two nervous artists, and this was our baby!  The piece was just inches below the maximum legal limits and weighed over 1000 pounds.  The crew from the City moved the piece.  They handled all the details.  They were amazing in their knowledge and ability.  They treated it as if it were their own, putting us at ease immediately.  When the piece was finished they picked it up from Casa and the next morning at 6:00 AM, in the dark, they, along with John Hayes, the WOW 2 curator, met us in front of Old City Hall.  In a matter minutes, "A Bird In The Hand" was installed.

- And . . . ?
And that's the story.  And if you view "A Bird In The Hand" on a sunny day, you'll see the sunlight from all the tiny mirrors on the dome reflected on the wall of Old City Hall.  We like to think of it as little points of light for the bright future in store for our favorite city, Fort Pierce.

Collaborative with Pat Cochran.  The Partnership was the first commissioned piece for St. Lucie County under the Art In Public Places ordinance.  The Partnership is an interpretive sculpture depicting the partnership that has historically existed between the Indian River Lagoon and the people of the surrounding area.  The sculpture is constructed of concrete infused with local shell mined from what was originally ocean floor just inland from Fort Pierce, corten steel, bronze and stainless steel.

Owned by St. Lucie County

Location:  St. Lucie Marine Center, Fort Pierce Inlet

Budget:  $45,000