It Took Me 4 Years To Create One-Of-A-Kind Mosaic Play Structure For Underserved Children

I was approached to design and create a custom mosaic play structure for a vacant lot in South Los Angeles that was being turned into a small neighborhood park. It was an artists dream project (mostly). It turned out that the park was going to be a tribute to Benito Juarez. After a little

After a little research I discovered that he was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. A city known for its carved and wildly painted wooden fantasy creatures called "Alebrijes". From this inspiration I started sketching, mixing species and patterns to design and create my wildly patterned mosaics for the 40 feet long, 7.5 feet high and 6 feet wide main three-headed tiger, dragon and sea serpent with water misters in its nose climbing tunnel and slide! A frog hitching a ride on a turtle is 5 feet long and tall and 4 feet wide.

The frog on a lily pad is 5 feet around and 2 feet tall. They are in a rubber flooring pond. In a community that has very few art programs or open space to play for kids my biggest reward was watching on opening day as the kids were crawling all over it like ants on a piece of cake making up games and laughing. I visit to check on it from time to time and always find it busy with happy and maybe even inspired children.

More info: jolinomosaicarts.com