Sculpture Key West Transforms Fort Zachary into an Art Gallery

The 17th Annual Sculpture Key West exhibition has transformed Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park into an outdoor art gallery. With the Civil War-era fort and crystal-clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, the 13 large-scale sculptures by artists from around the country are truly interactive with their environment. Many of the pieces along the sandy beach change with the landscape, weather and time of day. As I walked along the path beside the shipping channel, a towering cruise ship glided past, adding extreme contrast to works like Tebelio Diaz’s Flotilla. His collection of rafts cobbled together using found materials tell the story of the mass Cuban migration during the Mariel boatlift in the 1980s.

I climbed to the top of the fort for a more comprehensive view of some of the larger sculptures like Bill Wood’s Dense Pack Park and Jiwan Noah Singh’s Home. Using 32 20-inch polished aluminum discs, Wood creates a highly concentrated field of light and reflection, which brings the blue sky down to earth. The intricate spiral pattern of Singh’s geometric wood stacked sculpture also takes shape from afar. The representational piece references his childhood during the construction of the nearby Truman Annex neighborhood. Whether on foot, bicycle, WaveRunner or boat this exhibit should be on your Key West must-see list. Two other venues for Sculpture Key West include West Martello Tower and Higgs Beach, and the installations will be on exhibit through March 23.