SARASOTA, Fla. — A Sarasota landmark and its creator are receiving a highly esteemed and coveted honor in the art world.
The popular Mermaid Fountain sculpture is now in the Smithsonian Institution's National Registry of Public Art Sculptures, so people across the country and the world can learn about it.
The local artist who created it spoke about this recognition and the inspiration behind the art.
"It's a carved ceramic sculpture, and it's not painted it's glazed," said Nancy Goodheart Matthews of Bradenton.
Goodheart Matthews created the Mermaid Fountain in 1993, and it is notable for its whimsical, mythical and magical aesthetics and illustrations.
The two-panel fountain sculpture is titled 'L'Aria della Figlia Muta' in Italian or 'Song of the Silent Daughter' in English and is made up of several tiles and pools with a running theme.
"The female side is the unconscious side with the water, and the male side is the land side with the sun and the land and the tree of life," said Goodheart Matthews.
The popular and most recognized feature of the fountain sculpture is the mermaid in the middle of two dolphins which faces the ocean.
"I grew up in the West Indies and I was very influenced by the ocean," she said.
Goodheart Matthews warns that visitors to the fountain must stay sharp with their eyes in order not to miss any of the quirky details and the stories woven into the ceramic tapestry.
"There are 31 of these little tiles that are carved which are all about Florida animals and plants. This is a compass rose that orients to the globe and the earth. They are little sparks of imagination that hopefully get people into using their own imagination," Goodheart Matthews added.
She is also gladdened by the national recognition from the Smithsonian Institution.
"It's extraordinary for an artist I've never dreamed that it would get this kind of publicity never dreamed it. It's put Sarasota on an artistic map that it wasn't on before," she said.
As paint crews worked to give the fountain sculpture a face-lift ahead of the formal ceremony on Friday, Goodheart-Matthews has an ask for future visitors.
"I would like people to enjoy the vignettes in the sidewalks. There's all kinds of imagery there. I hope people continue to enjoy it," she said.
You can check out the fountain art and experience the magic of the tales in the tiles at the Paul N. Thorpe Jr. Park, at the corner of Pineapple and Lemon Avenue in Downtown Sarasota.
