At Coverings 2021, we honored outstanding Special Recognition projects that demonstrated spectacular craftsmanship and creativity in the use of tile & stone. This week we’re putting the spotlight on projects who were recognized for their mosaic expertise.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Living Wholeheartedly
LMF Group
Shorewood, WI

Casa de Corazón®, a Spanish immersion day care and preschool located in Shorewood, Wisconsin, wanted a hand-made art piece to hang in their large vestibule to greet their clients and visitors as they entered the building.

A mosaic was chosen as the medium, and a design was created to evoke a spirit of community, diversity, love, children and parenthood.

Our team developed the design to reflect these characteristics as well as the school’s values.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
“City Tree” Mural
New York Tilemakers
Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY

Artist Adam Cvijanovic was the winner of a design competition for a new public school. He hired New York Tilemakers to help translate his paintings & drawings into a permanent mosaic installation.

They fabricated this mural, which is 21 feet x 21 feet, starting in January 2020. This artwork is installed on an exterior wall of PS/IS 667, in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

The overall design goal for the project was to translate the artist’s design into a permanent mosaic mural. His composition for this school incorporates local architecture and natural features.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Tualatin Lifeblood
JK Mosaic, LLC
Tigard, OR

This is a public art project for the City of Tigard, OR (near Portland.) The City transformed the original railroad into a heritage trail, with stations describing some of the people who contributed to the development of the South Portland area and Tualatin Valley.

The project offers some structure and seating along the 1/4-mile trail, with inlaid mosaic tile designs suggesting flowing water, with local flora and fauna mixed in.

Challenges included transportation of heavy boulders and the carving of inlays, all coordinated during a pandemic. Hand-carved inlays were done by Ed Salerno.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Tree Stump Shower Seat
Unique Mosaics
Heber Springs, AR

Unique Mosaics designed, built & installed all tile, then shipped the shower seat for the installer to install one piece into the shower.

This seat was built to be waterproof, so they used high density foam substrate that they sculpted, sanded smooth, covered in fiberglass mesh & cementitious waterproofing, installed tile, grouted with epoxy in two colors.

Ensuring all of the seat was suitable for a wet environment as well as making sure there were no sharp edges on seat for safety. Designed to fit into the corner of a rustic style shower and installed as one finished piece by the shower installer.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Roots of Knowledge
Ro Biaggi Design Build
Tampa, FL

Project commissioned by Tampa Housing Authority and Related Group to create a mosaic mural tribute to Mary McLeod Bethune for a low-income housing project in the city.

This project is 60 feet x 20 feet center wall, 60 feet x 10 feed west wall and 40 feet x 10 feet east wall and was installed and completed in 6 weeks using scaffold and lifters.

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Walk in the Park
Custom Mosaic Creations, Inc.
Tigard, OR

This sweet lady that lives in an assisted living community called Custom Mosaic Creations to inquire about what they do. They explained that they use stained glass to create client’s memories and tell their story through functional mosaic art such as backsplashes.

She said she didn’t have a story! However, she could use some color in her boring white kitchen. After meeting with her and learning how she likes to walk through parks, loves hummingbirds, trees, lakes, iris flowers, cherry blossom trees, Custom Mosaic Creations was able to build a design in their mind.

They proposed backlighting the project so the stained glass would cast light in the evening. The day they installed the backsplash she was beyond astonished with the beauty of the project. Everyone that comes to visit just loves it!

Special Recognition: Mosaic
Venice, Italy
Unique Mosaics
Medford, MA

The client was looking to update the previous mural that was painted above his fireplace. He wanted to do something different, so he contacted Unique Mosaics about doing a mosaic tile mural.

He gave them the freedom to decide what materials to use. The image was based on a photograph that he took in Venice while on vacation with his wife. There were other people in the gondola, and another gondola right behind it. When Unique Mosaics designed the mural, they thought it would be a neat idea to put him and his wife in the gondola and remove the second gondola that was directly behind.

They wanted him and his wife to be able to look at it from a distance and see a window into their time in Venice, as well as find little fun details when they observe it up close.

Do you have a recently completed project that features innovative design and installation of tile & stone? Consider entering it to the 2022 CID Awards – the submission portal will open this fall.