It all began with “CowParade,” a public art display of giant fiberglass cows hosted by the City of Zurich, Switzerland in 1998. Decorated by local artists and then displayed all over the city, the sculptures were ultimately auctioned off to benefit charity. The event was so successful and well-received that it became the impetus for iconic public art displays all over the world.

Lone remainder of Chicago's CowParade, this bronze casting sits outside the Chicago Cultural Center

Sarasota clown sculpture

Chicago was the first to mimic the concept; in a nod to its history as a meat packing center, fiberglass cows were scattered throughout the Loop in 1999. Since then, scores of copy-cat events around the world have featured sculptures of whatever animal or item best represents the sponsoring city.

Sarasota, Florida, also known as Circus Capital of the World, chose clowns. The Outer Banks of North Carolina, during the centennial celebration of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first motorized flight, attached metal wings to mustangs, merging “First Flight” with its reputation as home to one of the largest herds of Spanish mustangs still remaining in the wild. And in Miami’s South Beach, five-foot tall flamingos still peek from gardens and line the broad boulevards. The list goes on: Los Angeles sponsored angels; Hendersonville, North Carolina exhibited giant apples; and Norfolk, Virginia had mermaids. Read the rest of this entry »

If you look hard enough, you can pierce the phony facade in even the most tourist-choked destinations. In Miami Beach I finally broke through the barrier when I connected with its artist community.

My first view of the art of Karim Ghidinelli was from a second floor balcony at the Art Center/South Florida, looking down into his open cubicle. The artist sat in the center of the room, hunched over a cell phone, surrounded by massive oil on tin paintings. Initially, the flamboyant colors splayed across each piece held my attention. But I was even more fascinated when I realized that a giant thumbprint had been etched into the center of each metal canvas. I had to see them up close.

Ghidinelli in his studio, surrounded by huge canvases

The intense young man welcomed me into his studio and studied me with dark, brooding eyes as I examined his paintings up close. Each fingerprint whorl was formed by words, some readable and some not, spiraling in toward the center. I read snatches:

“…the most natural pressure is fear…”

“…all the traits that make the self do not come from the self so how do we claim…”

“…fall under the omnipresent post-modern theory of everything…”

“…fearless encounter…”

The artist's intensity is reflected in his workk

I asked Ghidinelli if the concept of fear was central to his work. “We all strive for stability but never achieve it,” he explained. Ghidinelli is no stranger to this struggle; like most artists he never knows when Read the rest of this entry »

Most of the time I arrive at a destination without preconceived notions, but Miami Beach was steeped in expectation. Thanks to the popular TV show, CSI Miami, I imagined exquisitely preserved art deco architecture, tropical weather, oiled body-builders with rippling muscles, exuberant Latin culture, and colors vivid enough to make your eyeballs hurt. It was none of those things.

Palette of pastel colors adorn Miami Beach's famoous art deco architecture

Just my luck, when I finally had an opportunity to visit Miami Beach, the temperatures plunged into the low 50′s. I was not the only one unprepared; tourists everywhere shivered in shorts and sleeveless tops. Even the Holiday Inn Oceanfront, where I won a free night’s stay in a contest held by Travel Wonders of the World blog, had a hard time coping. Housekeeping had set my room’s thermostat at 50 degrees and it was ice cold. Even turning up the thermostat had little effect. Since south Florida temperatures are normally much higher, the hotel has both “room air” and “facility air;” the room air could be turned off but the facility air could not. It took a portable heater and extra blankets – which the hotel graciously delivered – to remedy the problem.

The frigid weather also nixed my plans to lie on the beach, although plenty of souls heartier than me ventured out in the middle of the afternoon, when temps soared to the high 60′s. Not to be deterred, I put on my warmest available clothes and walked along the oceanfront, searching for the Miami Beach I envisioned. Rather than long legged, exotic women in skimpy bikinis I found families; instead of sugary Read the rest of this entry »

I am absolutely blown away! A while back I entered a contest being hosted by Travel Wonders of the World, one of my all-time favorite travel blogs. Travel Wonders had partnered with Priority Club Rewards, the program that allows members to accrue award points for stays at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza, IHG, or Intercontinental Hotels, offering readers an opportunity to win a night at one of 4,300 five star hotels located in more than 100 countries.

View of Holiday Inn Miami Beach Miami from the oceanfront boardwalk

To be eligible to win, I needed to do the following: Read the rest of this entry »

All day, CNN has been featuring a video clip of a man who strapped himself into kite surfing apparatus on some Florida beach during tropical storm Faye. One 60 mph gust came along, picked him up, slammed him into the beach a couple of times, picked him up again, carried him across an adjacent parking lot, and slammed him into a wall. I can’t imagine WHAT this guy was thinking. What would possess someone to strap themselves into a kite during a tropical storm? Maybe it’s the Read the rest of this entry »