Xavier Cortada, Flower Force: America 250, hand-painted ceramic on concrete, 4′ x 4′ x 15′, 2026
Comissioned by the City of Doral Art in Public Places program
FLOWER FORCE: AMERICA 250
America turns 250 on July 4, 2026.
To mark this historic birthday, Miami artist Xavier Cortada created Flower Force: America 250, a public art sculpture in Doral, Florida, covered with 250 unique, hand-painted ceramic flowers. One flower for each year of the nation’s history.
Now, we invite you to help complete the artwork.
The sculpture is finished, but for Cortada, a public artwork is only truly complete when it is activated by the public.
Through “Flower Force: America 250,” Doral residents and community members are invited to plant Firebush, a native Florida plant with bright red-orange blooms, and place a commemorative Flower Force garden flag beside it.
Together, we are creating 250 Firebush gardens across the community to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with living color, pollinator habitat, and a renewed commitment to the land we share.
Firebush (Hamelia patens) attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Its brilliant blooms offer a lasting kind of Fourth of July color that keeps growing long after the fireworks fade.
How to participate
1. Plant firebush in your yard, garden, school, or community space.
2. Place your Flower Force: America 250 garden flag beside it.
3. Take a photo of your planting.
4. Post it on social media using #FF250 and tag @CortadaFoundation.
By participating, you become part of a living public artwork: 250 flowers on the sculpture, 250 firebush gardens in the community, and 250 acts of stewardship for America’s 250th birthday.
The sculpture: about the obelisk
Flower Force: America 250 is a public art piece created by Miami artist Xavier Cortada, bearing 250 unique ceramic flowers. The obelisk was permanently installed in Doral, Florida, as a living monument to America’s 250th birthday.
The sculpture stands at the corner NW 41st Street and 112th Avenue, and was activated through the planting of 250 firebush plants across Doral.
The sculpture, part of the Flower Force initiative, connects the beauty and resilience of native Florida plants, the power of civic engagement, and the shared responsibility to protect our natural environment for the next 250 years.
About flower force
This project builds on Cortada’s decades-long practice of engaging communities through art, including his 2013 collaboration, Flor500, with Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs and public libraries to commemorate the state’s quincentennial. It also extends Cortada’s Flower Force body of work, which uses art, flowers, and public participation to invite residents into simple, meaningful acts of environmental stewardship.
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