Created by Miami artist Cundo Bermudez, “Flora la Recogedora de Sueños” is a large bronze sculpture that resides on the Baywalk Path in downtown Miami, Florida. Translated as “Flora the Dream Catcher,” the piece was designed to honor the hopes and dreams of all immigrants.
Bermudez is widely recognized as an influential Cuban painter known for his colorful depictions of figures and patterns. Achieving international recognition in the 1940s, he spent the next few decades in Puerto Rico before moving to the United States in 1996. Various paintings and artworks of his are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, and the Kendall Art Center in Miami, but his pieces can be found in locations across the world. None dominate and define their space like “Flora la Recogedora de Sueños,” which provides an essential identity for the Baywalk Path.
The 25-foot sculpture is an abstract figure that was installed in 2012. Bermudez gifted the piece to Miami in acknowledgment of the welcome he received in Miami and the long and successful career he enjoyed there. It has become one of the most notable features of the waterfront that connects Maurice A. Ferre Park with a pathway that takes audiences all across the waterfront.
Benches and other places to relax and enjoy the surroundings have been installed around the sculpture. The sculpture can also be seen from nearby locations, including the Freedom Tower, highlighting the types of engagement such pieces can cultivate.
Recognized as a masterpiece, “Flora la Recogedora de Sueños” highlights what it can mean to create connection and engagement in a space that would otherwise be totally empty or ordinary in a way that celebrates the present and future of an entire community.
