- April 26, 2024
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PCAF trustee and sponsor of Pablo, G. Lindsey Florence, is at the reveal with OKES students, OKES Principal Katherine Crooke, FPC art teacher Chelsea Schlaffer and OKES art teacher Ambur Carter. Photo by Paige Wilson
Pablo's name and design is based off of the work of Pablo Picasso. Photo by Paige Wilson
Old Kings Elementary students look at Pablo's shell. Photo by Paige Wilson
PC art teacher Chelsea Schlaffer, OKES art teacher Ambur Carter and PCAF Executive Director Nancy Crouch pose with Pablo. Photo by Paige Wilson
Pablo is the fourth turtle in PCAF's Turtle Trail. Photo by Paige Wilson
OKES art teacher Ambur Carter, OKES Principal Katherine Crooke, FPC art teacher Chelsea Schlaffer, and OKES students pose with Pablo. Photo by Paige Wilson
A sculpture of a turtle with a very colorful shell now sits outside Old Kings Elementary School. "Pablo" is the fourth turtle installed in the community, as part of the Palm Coast Art Foundation's Turtle Trail project. With art elements and colors inspired by iconic Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, students from OKES came up with the designs for the turtle, and students from Flagler Palm Coast High School then brought their ideas to life.
The unveiling of Pablo took place on Thursday, June 27, where students, teachers, faculty and staff gathered with members of PCAF to witness the first gleam of sunshine radiate off his shell.
G. Lindsey Florence, a trustee of the Palm Coast Arts Foundation, sponsored the turtle sculpture for the student art clubs to create.
Flagler Schools Arts Coordinator (and newly appointed Director of the Flagler Auditorium) Amelia Fulmer was approached by PCAF to involve the young artists in the turtle project. She said OKES fit the bill for Pablo's home because of its marine sciences flagship.
About 70 OKES art club students in first to fifth grade input ideas for the project, said art teacher Ambur Carter, who molded the ideas into one cohesive theme. Carter first taught her students about Picasso's unique artistic style so they would know how to accurately interpret it into their own ideas.
FPC art teacher Chelsea Schlaffer said her club's students worked on creating Pablo for nearly the last full school year.
"They wanted the shell to be very bright and colorful and fun and very Picasso," Schlaffer said. "And then they wanted the turtle, the actual fins, to be more realistic."
PCAF Executive Director Nancy Crouch said the foundation plans to have installed 10 total turtle sculptures by 2020, and to create a map of them for the the Flagler County Tourist Development Council.
The other three current turtle sculptures on the Turtle Trail are located around town. Claude sits on the stage at the Palm Coast Arts Foundation. Tiff watches over the canal at Long Creek Nature Preserve. And Marc-Sea was the first to be placed in a residential community in front of the Village Center fountain at Grand Haven.
For more information on how to sponsor a turtle sculpture, contact the Palm Coast Arts Foundation at 225-4394 or [email protected].
