As part of a 2014 public art commission, artist Xavier Cortada created two works to be installed at Port Everglades, a cruise terminal in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The two public artworks created by Xavier Cortada include a 40-foot ceramic mural dubbed “Pelican Path” and “Starfish Shuffle”. 

The artwork “Pelican Path”, which includes a water-themed backdrop made from 1,440 handcrafted and hand-painted porcelain tiles, illustrates Cortada’s interpretation of the ripples created when the pelican’s webbed feet slap the water as it takes flight. The artworks attempt to connect cruise passengers who travel through the terminal to what they’ll see aboard a ship — the sea, the shore and the sky. 

Xavier Cortada, “Pelican Path,” archival ink on aluminum, 7″ x 16″, 16″ x 36″, or 10″ x 24″, 2014.