Alliance for the Arts project to benefit Caloosahatchee’s health

If you’ve gone down McGregor Boulevard in Lee County lately, you might have noticed a blue wall on the side of the road.

A new art wall is part of a year-long project by Alliance for the Arts to celebrate Southwest Florida’s environment, connecting art and nature.

The sign says it all: “Big changes are coming.”

“This is still a work in progress,” said Lydia Black, the executive director for Alliance for the Arts.

The project is all being done for the organization’s “ArtsPark.”

Just a quarter mile away from the Caloosahatchee River, it’s fitting for more reasons than one. The 25-foot tall, water wall towers over a public space, and it’s dedicated to the river, one of the region’s most vital resources.

“The anchor of the project is the Caloosahatchee water wall by artist Michael Singer and the three big, anodized, blue pieces,” Black said. “If you look through the — the perforations show up in the corner. Lake Okeechobee and where the Caloosahatchee ran and where it dumps into and the old flow versus the new flow, where the locks are.”

The art project is part of a larger goal to protect Southwest Florida’s natural resource.

“We’re trying to provide plants that clean water,” Black said. “So as we increased our ability to hold stormwater runoff from McGregor and from the surrounding neighborhoods. The goal is to be able to clean that water because all of this water ends up in the Caloosahatchee.”

It’s living art meant to celebrate and protect our environment for years to come.

While Alliance for the Arts does not have a set date for a dedication, the group expects the site to be complete by mid-August.

The park is now open and free to the public.