The Blue Horizon Project is a community-driven public sculpture that will be crafted from ceramic corals replicated from 3D scans. Designed to evoke the sensation of being submerged beneath the sea, the monumental sinking arch will address the imminent threat of sea level rise and coral decline and promotes collective action.

Shapiro is sourcing the 3D coral models globally from scientific databases and her own scuba excursions, using digital fabrication techniques to capture their essence in friezes and reliefs. Adorned with ceramic flora and fauna, the arch will highlight the historical significance of Florida’s calcified coral reefs (now the foundational Oolite limestone rock), once part of a vast marine ecosystem.

Since receiving the AWAW EAG, Shapiro has enhanced the visibility and viability of The Blue Horizon Project by collaborating with local organizations, institutions, and partners. This includes a partnership with the local organization Commissioner where Shapiro co-hosted two snorkel expeditions that provided participants a firsthand look at her underwater scanning process and educated them about The Blue Horizon Project. During these expeditions, she collected scans of South Florida corals, expanding her model database.

Says Shapiro: “The Blue Horizon Project has allowed me to further explore a major pillar of my practice: collaboration. The workshops that I’ve held were not only essential to amassing material to build the sculpture, but have helped introduce the community directly to the artistic process; as participants have been pressing clay into molds of various corals that I’ve created, I’ve been firing and glazing their work product so the ceramic corals can eventually clad the sinking arch. This hands-on involvement not only enriches the final artwork but also fosters a sense of shared responsibility for Miami’s environmental future.”