Sculptor and artist Fred Eversley has been commissioned by Related Companies in partnership with the City of West Palm Beach to create a new public art installation. The selection process for the commission was managed by Related Companies executives and Culture Corps. Slated for completion in spring of 2024, the artwork is titled Portals. It will comprise a constellation of eight of his signature parabolic shapes in transparent, violet-hued polyurethane resin, adorning the One Flagler office tower, a new 25-story building designed by architect David Childs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.

Eversley’s work is often associated with the Light and Space movement. It has been featured in over 200 exhibitions and is included in over 40 museum collections. He has executed 20 large public artwork commissions. By training, Eversley is an engineer, and his sleek creations in cast polyester resins and bronze, and laminated acrylics and stainless steel, frequently take the form of disks, parabolas, helices and lenses. The reflectivity of the works makes them naturally interactive.

As part of the project, the adjacent First Church of Christ, Scientist—which inspired Eversley’s Portals—will be preserved in perpetuity. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by African American architect Julian Abele in 1928, and completed in 1929, the church remains one of the most architecturally significant historic structures in West Palm Beach. The 1.25-acre public green space in front of the new One Flagler building will be named “Julian Abele Park.” The eight sculptures comprising Portals refer to the eight columns of the church.

Explains Eversley, “Seen from afar, eight Portals rise up, from land, and out of water, shaping a graceful gate that resonates with the columns of the church. Like an arced welcoming arm, the Portals lead visitors to the heart of the site’s historical ground. The Portals become an active third part of what is now a sculptural and architectural trilogy, one in which the number eight is a recurring theme. The aim is to inspire and draw thoughts to Abele’s masterful gestures, and to the mind that gave rise to this destination point, which now appears in a new light, and with new life. Portals signals a new beginning––an homage to Abele’s significance and his relevant, lasting contribution, which are here given renewed value and brought into the eternal light of infinite spirit.”