West Palm Beach selects five local artists to transform public spaces through The Commons 5 Artists 5 Spaces

West Palm Beach, Florida – Five Palm Beach County artists will bring new temporary works into public spaces across West Palm Beach this fall as the city prepares the latest edition of its public art initiative, The Commons.

The City of West Palm Beach, through its Art in Public Places program, has selected five multidisciplinary artists for the fourth edition of The Commons. This year’s project, titled “Feast for the Ears,” will explore the idea of sound in different ways.

The works will not necessarily produce music or other sounds. Instead, the artists will look at how sound can be experienced, remembered or represented visually. The project is designed to move art beyond traditional studio settings and place it directly into spaces used by the public.

The five artists were chosen through a competitive process open to artists from across Palm Beach County. Each will create a temporary, site-specific installation in a different public location.

One of the selected artists is Marcela Ramos Castillo, whose work “Through the Estuary” will be installed on the fourth floor of the Mandel Public Library.

Ramos Castillo’s installation focuses on listening as something that can involve imagination and understanding, rather than simply hearing. Her work draws from Florida’s distinctive natural environments and combines botanical and architectural forms.

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Known for using a bold color palette, Ramos Castillo creates hybrid shapes that are designed to respond to their surroundings. The installation will offer visitors a different way to think about the relationship between the environment and the act of listening.

Diana Garcia will present “The Forest That Remains in Memory,” an immersive collage installation located on the first floor, in the elevators and on the third floor of the Mandel Public Library.

Garcia’s work examines the connection between memory and place. Her hand-cut landscape collages combine elements of the past and present while incorporating ideas inspired by sounds found in nature.

The installation considers the balance between growth and preservation, using landscapes and natural sounds as a way to explore how places can remain part of people’s memories even as they change.

Another library installation will come from artist Pia Dugger. Her project, “Soundscape,” will transform the Teen area on the second floor of the Mandel Public Library.

Dugger’s work is inspired by bird songs she hears during her morning walks in South Florida. Rather than reproducing those sounds directly, she translates them into visual forms.

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Waveforms, graphic patterns and images of native Florida birds will combine to create an immersive visual experience. The result is intended to connect music, nature and the visual arts in a space used by local teens.

The project will also extend outside the library.

Artist Sitki Doğan will transform the walls of José Martí Park with a series of three-dimensional stylized murals. The work, titled “Vibrant Currents,” will create one continuous visual soundscape across the park.

Doğan’s design takes inspiration from the natural surroundings of the park. The murals are intended to create memorable visual experiences while encouraging people to stop, look around and interact with the artwork.

The fifth artist, Angela Bulich, will bring “Tune In” to City Hall Plaza.

Bulich’s site-specific installation will take a playful approach to the theme of sound, drawing inspiration from local seashells. The sculptures will function as individual pieces while also forming a larger experience within the plaza.

Light and sound activated by visitors will become part of the installation, meaning the artwork will change as people interact with it.

Together, the five projects will give “Feast for the Ears” a broad range of styles and approaches. Some works will focus on natural sounds, others on memory or the environment, while others will use technology, color, sculpture and large-scale murals to suggest the idea of sound without necessarily making it audible.

The City of West Palm Beach says The Commons is intended to encourage local artists to take their work outside the studio and into the public realm. By placing the temporary installations in libraries, parks and other civic spaces, the program gives residents and visitors an opportunity to encounter contemporary art as part of their everyday surroundings.

The fourth edition of The Commons is scheduled to open in early November. The city plans to provide additional information about the opening and the individual installations as the project moves closer to its launch.

The initiative is being presented through the city’s Art in Public Places program, which oversees public art efforts in West Palm Beach.

Residents interested in following the project and receiving updates can follow the city’s Art in Public Places program on social media at @WPBAiPP, as well as the City of West Palm Beach at @TheCityOfWPB.

For additional information about The Commons: 5 Artists 5 Spaces: Feast for the Ears 2026, the city has directed questions to Carolina Puente, Public Art Coordinator. Puente can be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at (561) 822-1406.

With five artists, five locations and five different interpretations of sound, the upcoming project is expected to give West Palm Beach residents a new way to experience public spaces while highlighting the work of artists from the local community.