Artist: Donald Gialanella

Location: Shipwreck Park attached to Lady Luck

View a video of the sinking of this artwork.

Florida artist Donald Gialanella was commissioned to design, fabricate, and install a sculpture entitled Pirates’ Treasure Chest as part of the City’s Underwater Sculpture Garden. The artwork was displayed by the Great Lawn for one year before it was submerged into the water and attached to Lady Luck as part of the Shipwreck Park underwater art exhibition.

Lady Luck is a 324 foot tanker vessel that was sunk on July 23rd, 2016 as an artificial reef 1 ½ miles off Pompano Beach’s shore. This ship is one of the biggest contributions to Florida’s artificial reef system and one of the most easily accessible major dive sites in the nation. The ship is the centerpiece of what is known as Shipwreck Park, surrounded by 16 other existing wrecks covered with marine life. Shipwreck Park is a unique underwater cultural arts park with rotating underwater art exhibits. The ship includes specific themes, exciting underwater events, artwork and rotating art exhibits to create a unique dive experience for local and international tourists.

Shipwreck Park is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the creation of an underwater park system establishing artificial reefs, utilizing public art to raise awareness of the need to preserve and conserve our natural coral reef system. The purpose of Shipwreck Park Pompano is to develop and protect our coral reefs. For more information on Shipwreck Park, visit http://shipwreckparkflorida.org

Donald Gialanella (Jell-a-nella-a) is an artist specializing in the design and fabrication of public art. Originally from Maplewood, NJ, he now works out of his studio in St Petersburg, Florida. Donald apprenticed with artist Louise Bourgeois after earning a BFA in sculpture from The Cooper Union in New York. Known for his larger-than-life sculptures in public and private collections across the United States, his work is installed in over a dozen cities from California to New York.His background includes teaching art at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and ten years as an Emmy winning television graphics producer in New York City. For more information on the artist, please visit https://www.donsculpture.com/ .