Art of Sand to Open at Brevard Zoo

 

For a county with 72 miles of beaches, it should come as little surprise that sand plays a big role in how thousands of locals and tourists enjoy the Space Coast.  And with this month’s opening of the third annual Art of Sand exhibit, sand is drawing art lovers of all ages from across the state and beyond to Brevard.

Beginning Saturday, February 16 and running through Memorial Day, Brevard Zoo will host an artful collaboration of modern and ancient times, Wild Florida: Past, Present and Future.  This year’s exhibit will feature more than 13 incredible sand sculptures that trace the history of wildlife and human beings in Florida from prehistoric times through the present.

With some towering as high as 20 feet tall, these massive yet detailed sculptures – designed and sculpted by hand by some of the world’s best known artists in this medium – tell stories of the area’s rich past.  Guests will marvel as they venture along a quarter-mile wooded trail, carved into the natural landscape at the Zoo, as each sculpture reveals itself and tells its story, complete with the natural soundscape of a time gone by.

Starting in prehistoric times, when wooly mammoths, saber cats and giant sloths roamed Florida, the trail will take visitors through the appearance of the area’s first humans, the landing of Ponce de Leon (coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the famed explorer’s first expedition to North America), the arrival of the Europeans in the 1500’s, the Territorial Period of the 1800’s that featured cattle, cowboys and  the distinctive “Cracker” horse, to the Modern Era, with its familiar species such as wolves, alligators, manatees, scrub jays and the Florida Panther.

Collaborative Community Effort

The Art of Sand is produced through the collaborative efforts of the local business community to support wildlife conservation and the arts in Brevard County.  Brevard Cultural Alliance, which founded the event in April 2010 in Cape Canaveral, has teamed with Brevard Zoo and SCB Marketing to produce this year’s event, with the financial and in-kind support of numerous local companies, including presenting sponsors Toyota of Melbourne and Lexus of Melbourne, as well as the Tourist Development Council.  Other major sponsors include Amici’s Italian Restaurant, Brevard Eye Center, Brevard Physicians Network, Exceptional Dentistry, Holiday Inn Viera, Jon’s Fine Jewelry, Learning Rx, ndtArtemis, Pizza Gallery & Grill, Pruitt Real Estate, Shelter Mortgage, Viera Charter School and Wuesthoff.  Media partners include Bright House Networks, Clear Channel Outdoor, Florida Today Communications and SCB Marketing.