World’s Largest Alligator at The Everglades National Park

Celebrate the 99th Anniversary of the Florida Everglades National Park with Gator in the Bay: the world’s largest alligator. The event offers a spectacular art exhibition taking place from August 1-3o, 2015 at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center of the Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida. Join us for an Opening Reception and Art Party on Saturday, August 1st from 4-7pm at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center in Homestead, FL 33034.  Enjoy a month of creative activities and workshops, all events are free to attend and family-friendly.

Miami-based art star and acclaimed photographer Lloyd Goradesky created this internationally renowned public art installation, which took four years and $1 million to complete. Gator in the Bay is a 33,000 pound alligator the size of a football field that floats. The head is a 3-story steel sculpture built on a self-propelled barge using recycled junkyard materials, the upper jaw is attached to the boom of a crane, which opens and closes. The body is made of 104 individual boards, called Floating Art Tiles, displaying photographs of the Everglades captured by the artist. Learn more about the project on Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet Interview.

Each Floating Art Tile has over 3000 unique images of the Florida Everglades that are the size of a postage stamp. The entire illusion of the alligator body is created with over 83,000 unique images of the Florida Everglades photographed by Goradesky. Using the power of art to bring awareness to our natural surroundings, Goradesky’s art extends from multi-media design to complex photographic creations. His artistic goal is to get the viewer to look through the actual art piece and to interpret the meaningful message. His personal goal is to create the world’s largest assembled photograph.

The purpose of the project is to raise awareness for the Everglades. The purpose of the art is to show the cooperation that can occur between industry and nature, since it is an alligator resting on a barge. The artist has become an icon using the power of his art to generate awareness and attention to the fragile ecosystem of America’s Everglades, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The Everglades National Park protects an unparalleled landscape that provides important habitat for numerous rare and endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile, and the elusive Florida panther. An international treasure as well –  a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance and specially protected area under the Cartagena Treaty. Celebrate the month of August with Gator in the Bay, enjoy the 99th Anniversary of this incredible National Park right here in our own backyard with the world’s largest alligator.