Art Week takes over Miami Beach with 100 sculpted elephants and underwater sculpture park

A herd of excitement has taken over a South Florida beach ahead of Art Week, thanks to dozens of elephant sculptures and an underwater sculpture park.

Art Week is taking Miami Beach by land with a life-size stampede of 100 elephants called The Elephant Migration.

“They’re incredible. I’ll show you,” said a child.

“OK, let’s check it out,” said 7News reporter Jordan Kissane.

The Elephant Migration was inspired by real elephants living amongst the 150 Indigenous artisans who created and crafted the project in India.

“We are now on our third stop in Miami Beach, and it hasn’t been wilder than this,” said Elephant Family Trustee Fiona Humphrey, co-founder of The Elepphant Migration.

Humphrey said the installation is designed to encourage coexistence, inspired by the way its artists live alongside the world’s largest land mammal.

“These are really replicas of the elephants that live alongside this Indigenous community in India. It’s really bringing the message here from them, with love,” said Humphrey. “Yes, we are bringing elephants to you, and yes, they’re the backyard or neighbor of our Indigenous community in India. But wherever you are in the States, you really can live in harmony with the wildlife that surrounds you.”

Art Week is also taking Miami Beach by sea with an underwater sculpture park called The ReefLine.

“It’s an underwater sculpture park, snorkel trail and mainly art underwater, that is, a hybrid reef,” said Ximena Caminos, the founder of The ReefLine.

The underwater installation stretches for seven miles, and in addition to improving your weekend adventures, it’s improving our precious underwater ecosystem.

“Miami is ground zero for climate change. If there’s no water, there is no land,” said Caminos. “So we start at the beginning, with one of the biggest problems facing the area. The area where we are deploying is an area that was declared an area where artificial reefs should be deployed because they are needed.”

Art Week kicks off on Monday. The Great Elephant Migration and The ReefLine are on display near 36th Street from Wednesday through Sunday, Dec. 8.