Barbara Neijna
Miami International Airport
South Terminal Expansion, Concourse J

In Foreverglades, Miami artist Barbara Neijna has created an environment that is unique to South Florida and, much like the Everglades, her installation in Concourse J “is like no other.”  Text from Margory Stoneman Douglas’ River of Grass is embedded into 65,000 sq. ft. of terrazzo floor running throughout the concourse. Pre-cast stone bas-relief panels interspersed with ribbons of glass, which symbolize flowing water and swaying reeds of grass, are seamlessly integrated into the architecture.  Expansive curtain wall windows shower the concourse with brilliant color and highlight the hundreds of small, abstracted photographic images of South Florida interspersed throughout the terminal.

States the artist, “There are no other Everglades in the world... my intention was to create art in a public space that is unique to South Florida and could not occur elsewhere. The installation can be appreciated and understood over a long stay of time, delving into the multi-layering of context and content or at a very fleeting pace, catching a word or two of the terrazzo text from the historic prose of Douglas or a splash of color from the curtain wall glass. The art work is monumental in scale and intense in detail.”

Working in South Florida since 1962, Niejna has produced a large body of sculpture ranging from small wall-mounted objects to monumental freestanding geometric forms.