The Blue Horizon Project

Renders for The Blue Horizon proposed public sculpture.

The Blue Horizon Project is a public sculpture encouraging people to take environmental responsibility through community participation, innovative technology, and ceramics. The project involves creating ceramic components using silicone molds, based on 3D-scanned coral reefs. These ceramic pieces are created with the community's help during interactive workshops and then later fired, glazed and affixed to a monumental, sinking arch sculpture, which recreates the sensation of being submerged beneath the sea.

Shapiro aims to bring artists and audiences together by engaging the public in the process of creating ceramics through workshops. She collaborates with coral reef research institutions to make this project more inclusive, supporting their efforts and inspiring her ceramic designs. Her initiative that aims to showcase the significance of incorporating underwater environments into Miami's urban landscape, given the rising sea levels and deteriorating coral. The project combines art, science, and community participation to demonstrate the power of interdisciplinary collaboration. Shapiro hopes to inspire people to tackle global challenges, emphasizing the role of art and culture in promoting environmental sustainability and civic space ownership.

Currently, the project is in its initial planning and fundraising stage and is seeking additional support to achieve its goals.

Upcoming Workshops

Miami Waterkeeper Earth Day 2024 Cleanup

DATE: April 21, 2024. TIME: 10:00AM – 1:00PM LOCATION: Virginia Key Beach Park

DETAILS: Join Lauren Shapiro for an interactive workshop at the Miami Waterkeeper Earth Day event where volunteers can participate and contribute to The Blue Horizon Project. Shapiro aims to unite artists and audiences by engaging the community in creating ceramics to create this new large public sculpture. The objects produced will be fired, glazed, and affixed to a monumental, sinking arch sculpture, evoking the sensation of descending into an underwater world where our city is submerged, transforming into an artificial reef colonized by corals. With rising sea levels threatening coral reefs, the project aims to raise awareness about incorporating underwater environments into urban landscapes and promoting environmental sustainability through art and civic engagement.

Miami Waterkeeper is proud to co-host its 2nd annual 2024 Earth Day Clean-up with BLUE Missions, Repair the World, NAHREP West Broward, Ballyhoo Media, and Lauren Shapiro at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park! 

With support from Anonymous Was a Woman in partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts.

The Blue Horizon Project Snorkeling Expedition

Join the Commissioner on April 27, 2024, to experience South Florida's coral reefs up close and personal with artist and master ceramicist Lauren Shapiro during a curated snorkeling expedition to Key Largo. 

Learn about Shapiro’s upcoming Blue Horizon Project and get an exclusive glimpse of her texture-capturing processes in the field, where she uses underwater photography to capture 3D models for casting ceramic molds. Award-winning filmmaker, photographer, scientist, freediver, and National Geographic Explorer Dr. Shireen Rahimi will also be aboard and underwater to document our experience in support of The Blue Horizon Project. 

An all-day affair, the exclusive adventure begins at 11:45 AM at Silent World Dive Center in Key Largo and includes a boat ride to two coral reef sites. We will return at approximately 4:30 PM. All are invited to join after for an optional dinner nearby at The Buzzard's Roost, a waterfront seafood eatery with the requisite tiki bar and captivating cove views.

To make this trip accessible, payment is based on a sliding scale, from  $90 to $150. We invite you to pay what you can. Your contribution will go toward underwriting the trip’s cost and will help support The Blue Horizon Project.

This event is sold out. A second snorkeling excursion will be available soon. For more information and to join the waitlist, CLICK HERE.

With support from Anonymous Was a Woman in partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts.

Proof of Concept

Shapiro draws on her experiences with site-specific exhibitions to make this project. Future Pacific, a fifteen-thousand-pound unfired clay installation about the fragility of coral reefs created in collaboration with the community, is proof of concept for Blue Horizon.

images and short film about Shapiro’s site-specific exhibition in 2020, “Future Pacific.”

Digital Fabrication for Ceramics

Shapiro's latest sculpture series incorporates 3D coral models into three-dimensional structures and high-relief tiling systems. She collaborates with scientific institutions and employs an inventive approach to create durable sculptures. As the project's leader, she emphasizes the importance of adaptation in addressing global challenges, such as the climate crisis.

To represent the current state of reefs accurately, Shapiro acquires 3D models from scientific databases, institutional partnerships, and personal scuba expeditions.

Socially- Engaged Sculpture

Lauren Shapiro's background in education informs her approach to participatory installations, breaking down barriers between artists and audiences. Her collaborative ceramic mural project, Garden Portals, exhibited at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami in 2021, is an example of her empowering communities to contribute to public artworks. Another example is her earlier work, Temporary Terrains, which involved artist-led workshops to create an ephemeral clay installation at the Garden entrance, inspiring environmental stewardship and fostering collective ownership.

Implementation and Team

Shapiro has teamed up with The Underline, a Miami-Dade County linear urban park known for its dedication to community engagement and environmental stewardship. During the grant period, the park will host the artist-led workshop free and open to the public, offering an opportunity for individuals to participate in a hands-on manner and help Shapiro generate ceramic elements. The Underline has pledged to install the final sculpture permanently on-site and will support Shapiro in her fundraising efforts, sponsorship pursuits, and grant applications.

Shapiro collaborates with Dr. Ian Enochs from the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and Dr. Diego Lirman from the Reef Restoration Lab. Both coral reef experts at the University of Miami, this collaboration is essential to ensure the accurate communication of the project's scientific aspects which inform Shapiro's work. They will also provide  Shapiro access to new technologies, diving expeditions to local reef sites, and help generate 3D models of local corals for the project.

The Bakehouse Art Complex continues to support Shapiro by providing a free studio space and access to ceramics facilities. They will also assist in sharing her video content related to the project, increasing its public promotion.

In 2023, Lauren received the “Anonymous Was a Woman” environmental arts grant by New York Foundation for the Arts, to support the development of her concept. She currently in phase one of the planning and fundraising strategy for the project, and seeking additional support to reach the project’s goals.