A new art park in Florida will be anchored by work from the late monumental sculptor Richard Serra.

The Berkowitz Contemporary Foundation (BCF) is building the Longleaf Art Park in the master-planned community of Watersound in northwest Florida, about 125 miles west of Tallahassee. The private community touts on its website how award-winning artists in Walton County shape the local art scene.

Serra’s work, titled Passage of Time, is a 217-foot long and 540,000-pound sculpture constructed in eight two-inch thick weathering steel plates measuring 13.5 feet in height, displayed in what the foundation called “a meandering parallel arrangement.”

A site plan rendering of Longleaf Art Park. Photo courtesy of OLI Architecture/Berkowitz Contemporary Foundation.

Chloe Berkowitz, the foundation’s founder and president, said in an email that Serra’s work will be the first and only work shown when the park opens, but other artists in the foundation’s collection will later be included in rotating exhibitions.

The park and its featured installation were designed by Serra with OLI Architecture. The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) will manage the day-to-day operations of the park, which will be free and open to the public.

A rendering of the “Passage of Time Pavilion” viewed from the north at Longleaf Art Park. Photo courtesy of OLI Architecture/Berkowitz Contemporary Foundation.

Berkowitz said that discussions between the foundation and Serra, as well as OLI Architecture and the CAA, began soon after the Passage of Time was acquired in 2013. Discussions about the park began in earnest about four years ago.

“BCF closely worked with Serra and his team to ensure that his artistic vision was well-represented in how the sculpture would be exhibited,” Berkowitz said. “Pivotal decisions like the location, architect selection, and final design were all made with Serra’s stamp of approval which was paramount when planning the project.”

The first phase of the park is slated for completion in 2026. Until then, the foundation is still working on the development of the land, the construction of the pavilion, and the mobilization of the artwork, as well as finalizing details for future programming at the park.

A rendering of the “Passage of Time Pavilion” view from the pond at Longleaf Art Park. Photo courtesy of OLI Architecture/Berkowitz Contemporary Foundation.

“While specific events are not currently programmed for Longleaf Art Park, BCF is working with our partner, the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, to create meaningful programming in time for the art park’s opening in 2026,” Berkowitz said.

Though Serra was not known to have ties to the Sunshine State, Berkowitz said that the Walton County community has a history of “artistic curiosity,” which makes it “an impactful home for a project like this.”

CAA executive director Jennifer Steele called the creation of Longleaf Art Park the beginning of a “new cultural era” for Walton County and “establishes the Northwest Florida region as a home and destination for artistic excellence.”

“The importance of access to a piece of work as significant as Richard Serra’s Passage of Time cannot be overstated,” Steele said. “And the impact it will have on our local artists, residents, students, and visitors will be limitless and lasting for generations.”