Other than its mild weather and sprawling beaches, Florida is renowned for its coral reef, which stretches almost 350 miles from the Dry Tortugas to the St. Lucie inlet. As with many other natural wonders, Florida’s reef also faces significant threats from climate change, primarily due to warming ocean temperatures, pollution, and major bleaching events. A new initiative, however, seeks to address these environmental challenges through art.
The ReefLine, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Miami’s marine ecosystem, has tapped artists around the world to contribute to their 7-mile underwater public sculpture park off the coast of Miami Beach. Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre are two such artists, and, during Miami Art Week in December 2024, they debuted Miami Reef Star on the Mid-Beach shoreline.
The large-scale installation consists of 46 3D-printed stars of varying shapes and sizes, each arranged to resemble one massive star when viewed from above. Inspired by the migration of starfish, the sculpture embodies what Betancourt and Latorre describe as the “symbiotic relationship between the ocean, land, and cosmos.”
“Nature and the environment have been part of many of our collaborative artworks,” Betancourt and Latorre tell My Modern Met. “We both grew up in the Caribbean, in Puerto Rico, where living and connecting with nature is a daily experience. Nature inspires constantly, and being surrounded by it is pure magic. We can’t imagine not protecting it.”
The installation serves as a prototypical study for the two artists: in the coming years, Miami Reef Star will take to Miami’s waters, becoming part of the ReefLine’s underwater park. Once installed underwater, Miami Reef Star will encompass a diameter of 90 feet and will even be viewable from airplanes flying overhead.
Given the sheer scale of the ReefLine’s vision, the marine park will be constructed in several phases, with an anticipated completion date of late spring 2025.
“Currently, Phase I is taking place, with many prototypes [being] fabricated,” Betancourt and Latorre explain.
Beyond Miami Reef Star, the ReefLine park will incorporate several environmentally functional artworks, all intended to act as hybrid coral reefs. Other sculptures include Leandro Erlich’s Concrete Coral, a site-specific traffic jam that features life-size concrete car sculptures. Another work is The Great Elephant Migration, composed of 100 Indian elephants crafted from lantana camara, one of the world’s top invasive weeds.
“The ReefLine is a dream team of professionals who are experts [in] their fields,” Betancourt and Latorre say of their collaboration with ReefLine. “They are highly dedicated and committed individuals and in love with nature, especially the ocean.”
For Betancourt and Latorre, this opportunity not only demonstrates their environmental engagement but offers a moment of “magic” and “mystery.”
“Art can open up all kinds of possibilities,” the pair say. “This sculptural art hybrid reef will continue to change and evolve as nature [takes] over, even long after we are gone.”
You can follow along with their initiative via the ReefLine website and Instagram. To explore more of their work, visit Betancourt’s and Latorre’s websites.
The non-profit organization ReefLine has tapped artists to create environmentally functional installations for a new underwater park in Miami.
Miami Reef Star by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre is one such installation, and is inspired by the migration of starfish.
The 3D-printed star structures will be installed underwater in the next few years and will function as hybrid coral reefs.
Once installed, Miami Reef Star will encompass a diameter of 90 feet and will even be viewable from airplanes flying overhead.
Carlos Betancourt: Website | Instagram
Alberto Latorre: Website | Instagram
The ReefLine: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature images from Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre.