One of the latest permanent art installations at the Royal Poinciana Plaza is designed more for the enjoyment of the shopping and dining destination’s smallest visitors.
And we don’t mean the human ones.
Don’t worry: There’s nothing mouse-terious about the origins of these pint-sized pieces of art.
A pair of bitsy buildings are tucked away within the Royal Poinciana Plaza’s artful confines, the work of AnonyMouse, an anonymous artists’ collective based in Sweden that has brought its diminutive structures to locations around the world.
“In a place as idyllic as Palm Beach, a collaboration with AnonyMouse is the perfect match, as their storybook-inspired works of art beautifully complement the architectural elegance and rich history of their surroundings, adding a layer of magic and discovery that will captivate our visitors,” said Lori Berg, the plaza’s general manager.
AnonyMouse visited — anonymously, of course, Berg said — the Royal Poinciana Plaza and found inspiration in the place, its history and architecture.
In an email interview with Palm Beach Daily News, a group representative, dubbed “Yasha Mousekewitz,” explained that AnonyMouse began building its mouse-geared installations in Malmö, Sweden, in the winter of 2016. The pieces are inspired by the works of authors and artists including Astrid Lindgren, Beatrix Potter, Walt Disney and Don Bluth, Mousekewitz said.
“Our main drive is to bring a little bit of everyday magic to children and pedestrians passing by,” they wrote. “And hopefully inspire some to change their own street to the better.”
One of the buildings is a café, painted brown with white double doors. Windows along the front of the tiny building provide a look inside, where there is artwork on the walls, small tables and chairs.
The other small-scale structure built by AnonyMouse and installed at the plaza is, appropriately, a playhouse.
The Royal Poinciana Plaza property is home to the Royal Poinciana Playhouse, which in its heyday hosted to performances that drew celebrities, socialites, world leaders and other luminaries. It closed in 2004 and is in the midst of a major revitalization project that is expected to be completed later this year.
The AnonyMouse playhouse features prominent columns across its front, reminiscent of the historic playhouse. The arched windows are another delightful detail that mimic the windows on the original structure. Even the colors hearken back to the Royal Poinciana Poinciana Playhouse, which was a slate gray-blue and white.
The café and playhouse are the first AnonyMouse pieces in Palm Beach County — but not the first in partnership with WS Development, the group that owns the Royal Poinciana Plaza, Mousekewitz said.
The WS Development team first brought AnonyMouse to Boston to create some pieces there, they said. “We obviously jumped at the chance to see the world famous Palm Beach and thoroughly enjoyed our time there, and since there used to be a playhouse over at Poinciana it felt like a good match to make one for mice as well,” Mousekewitz wrote.
AnonyMouse takes about a month to create each installation, with a few artists working on different aspects of the overall project, they said. “And while we can never guarantee a return to Florida, keep your ears close to the ground,” Mousekewitz wrote. “You never know where we pop up next!”
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
