Artist Cara Despain Unveiling Her Water/Tables Sculpture June 8 at The Underline in Miami

 Art in Public Places, part of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, with partners The Underline and The Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works will unveil the work of artist Cara Despain on June 8 from 6 PM - 8 PM with a reception presented by Swire Properties. The work, called.  Water/Tables, is a pair of artist-designed playable ping pong tables. The launch is part of the inauguration of the Underline’s first completed phase, the Brickell Backyard.

Water/Tables will be located at the intersection of SW 1st Avenue and SW 9th Street in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, 

Adhering to the same dimensions as standard ping pong tables, Water/Tables invite direct engagement with visitors, complementing The Underline’s mission to activate public space as a site of movement, health, interactivity, and art. Visitors are invited to bring their own ping pong balls and paddles and engage in friendly tournaments and casual socializing.

The sculpture is the first permanent public artwork to be completed on The Underline. Friends of The Underline has been committed to transforming the underutilized land below Miami’s Metrorail - from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station - into a 10-mile linear park, urban trail and public art destination.

The project resulted from a successful public art partnership between noted partners, Swire Properties, and Miami-Dade’s Art in Public Places program, which dedicates 1.5 percent of construction costs on public land to public art. The Underline will also feature a program of temporary public artworks, activations, and events.

Located south of the Brickell Metrorail Station, he Underline path is also new home of artist Athena Tacha’s monumental sculpture, Leaning Arches, a seminal 1984 work from Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places Collection that was relocated from the Douglas Metrorail Station in 2020.