Public Art

Sugar Hill Mosaic

Central to our mission is to build and activate the Emerald Trail, complete with recreation and public art. The Sugar Hill Mosaic, commissioned by Groundwork in collaboration with Kate Rouh and her late husband Kenny Rouh of RouxArt, is the first of many public art projects that will be installed along the Emerald Trail over the next decade.

The mosaic is located along the S-Line Rail Trail under the I-95 overpass near 2429 N. Davis Street, Jacksonville, FL 32209

Sugar Hill is the largest mosaic art installation in Jacksonville. The five-foot high, 96-foot long mosaic honors the past, present and future of Sugar Hill, once the center of African-American prosperity in Northeast Florida. An estimated 41,000 individual tile pieces were laid by RouxArt, Green Team youth and hundreds of volunteers from all areas of the community.

Groundwork’s Green Team Youth Corps hosted an event along the S-Line in 2017 where they asked Sugar Hill residents what they’d like to see depicted in the mosaic. Those ideas inspired RouxArt’s design which features six themed panels:

  • History of Sugar Hill – Honors the grand homes, buildings and prominent residents of Sugar Hill
  • Peace – Features colorful peace signs
  • Neighborhood Fun – Inspired by children playing and everyday neighborhood activities
  • Green Team Youth Corps – Recognizes Green Team’s extensive work along the S-Line
  • Love Graffiti – Memorializes a graffiti image that once appeared where the mosaic hangs today
  • Jax Starry Night – Jacksonville Skyline image inspired by the famous painting by Vincent van Gogh

Green Team Mosaic Panel

Mosaic Donors:

  • Bill and Julie Sorenson
  • A Springfield Friend
  • Late Bloomers Garden Club
  • North Florida Land Trust
  • UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville
  • UF Health Jacksonville
  • United Way of Northeast Florida.
  • Haskell provided engineering and installation expertise as an in-kind donation.

Special Thanks:

  • City Councilman Reginald Gaffney, District 7, for sponsoring the project bill
  • FDOT
  • Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville – Art in Public Places
  • COJ Parks, Recreation and Community Services