Thrive
Daniel Popper · 2020 · Society Las Olas (now Flow Fort Lauderdale), Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Artwork by Daniel Popper. Photo as published on Street Art Utopia (You Walk Right Through Them (8 Photos), 1 November 2026); photographer not credited, camera date unconfirmed.
Thrive is a 27-foot concrete figure that pulls open its chest around a fern-lined passage, under the front portico of the riverside apartment building in downtown Fort Lauderdale that opened as Society Las Olas. Daniel Popper made it as an image of nature persisting inside the city. Source Source Source Checked
Seen Mar 2026 — The newest dated evidence is an Emerge Broward event listing for 19 March 2026 whose walk met at the Thrive statue outside Flow Fort Lauderdale (a report, not a photo). The newest dated photograph found was taken on 12 December 2020. Source Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Walk through the chestThe figure opens her chest to reveal a fern-covered tunnel that passers-by can walk through. Source Source Checked
- Stone outside, garden insideAt the unveiling Popper described “a woman made of stone with a hard exterior opening herself up to reveal her interior garden.” Source Source Checked
- A city version of Ven a la LuzPopper calls Thrive a rework of the concept behind his earlier Ven a la Luz in Mexico, set this time in an urban site. Source Checked
- Shipped from South AfricaThe 14-ton sculpture was cast in components using 3D modelling and giant CNC machines, shipped from South Africa and finished on site. Source Source Reported
📍 Where it is
Thrive stands at ground level under the front portico of the apartment building at 301 SW 1st Ave, by the Riverwalk and facing The Wharf Fort Lauderdale. The building opened as Society Las Olas and is now marketed as Flow Fort Lauderdale. Coordinates from OpenStreetMap. Source Source Source Source Reported
🗓️ Sightings
- 202020 Nov
Unveiled at Society Las Olas
- 202012 Dec
Photographed after dark by Rob Olivera
- 202023 Dec
Lonely Planet reports the fern tunnel
- 202125 Mar
Boca Raton Observer: permanently installed
- 202120 Nov
Secret Miami: a permanent fixture
- 202619 Mar
Walking group meets at the statue
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
“The 27-foot tall, 14-ton sculpture is a public art piece that will be a permanent installation on the ground level of Society Las Olas, developed by PMG.”
“it was created using 3D modelling and giant CNC machines. We cast components into molds and finished on-site” — Daniel Popper
“a woman made of stone with a hard exterior opening herself up to reveal her interior garden.” — Daniel Popper at the unveiling
✅ The facts
- Materials
- Glass-fibre-reinforced concrete (GFRC), steel and fibreglass, with a planted interior Source Source Checked
- Address
- 301 SW 1st Ave (magazine, apartment listing) or 221 SW 1st Ave (2026 event listing) Source Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
- You Walk Right Through Them (8 Photos) — Street Art Utopia
- Lumen by Daniel Popper, Miami — Artwork File
- Ven a la Luz by Daniel Popper, Tulum — Artwork File
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- danielpopper.com: Thrive project page (artist)
- goriverwalk.com: Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale magazine, January 2021, p. 33 (PDF)
- lonelyplanet.com: fern tunnel sculpture (23 December 2020)
- bocaratonobserver.com: Fort Lauderdale’s riveting new sculpture (25 March 2021)
- secretmiami.com: Daniel Popper’s Thrive (20 November 2021)
- emergebroward.org: Women’s History Month Walk and Connect (19 March 2026)
- commons.wikimedia.org: photo by Rob Olivera, CC BY 2.0 (taken 12 December 2020)
- hellolanding.com: Flow Fort Lauderdale apartment listing, 301 SW 1st Ave
- openstreetmap.org: Thrive (coordinates)
- Image: photographer not credited in the source post, as published on Street Art Utopia (You Walk Right Through Them (8 Photos), 1 November 2026); a 16:9 share version was made from it.
Last checked: 1 November 2026. How we verify art