From the Creative Pinellas Arts Impact Fund for Visual Arts, my goal is to create and display a 3D public art sculpture of a Bird of Paradise flower to increase viewer happiness and vibrancy in the Pinellas county area!
For this project, I also received the 2024 Cycle 4 Microgrant from The Gobioff Foundation to assist in completing this project.
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SUNKEN SPORES by artist Ashley Rivers- The Nature of Fire, is a piece based off a few ceramic mushrooms she created in the past. Mushrooms are vital to ecosystems around the world. Through mycelium, mushrooms help other plants share nutrients and communicate through chemical signals.
Completed: April 2024
Sculpture now Underwater and ready for viewing
Created mostly of concrete, with rebar and metal mesh stabilizers, the piece stands roughly 7' 5" tall. The shapes within the piece will allow the perfect surfaces for future corals and anemones to grow, offering new habitats, feeding, spawning, and nursery grounds for over 1 million aquatic species- a perfect analogy to how real mushrooms help other plants share nutrients above ground.
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Being created as a series for public/private view in a residential neighborhood, GRAPE VINES will add a bright and lively slash of color and light, draw the attention of viewers, and create a topic of interest for the gathering space!
GRAPE VINES by Artist Ashley Rivers | The Nature of Fire | involves a collection of rectangular images all created in stained glass. Each image draws on my love for nature and shows some beautiful imagery of grape vines.
Estimated Completion: Winter 2025