Matthew Mazzotta

Matthew Mazzotta
Born (1977-03-28) March 28, 1977
Canton, New York, US
EducationSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forSocial Practice Art
AwardsDezeen Awards - “Architecture Project of the Year 2018”
Websitewww.matthewmazzotta.com

Matthew Mazzotta (born March 28, 1977) is an American social practice artist. Mazzotta grew up in Canton, New York, and works internationally. Mazzotta is a 2018 Loeb fellow at Harvard University and a 2019 Guggenheim fellow.

Mazzotta participated in the exhibition “PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity” at the U.S. Pavilion of the 19th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2025.[1]

Education

Mazzotta received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Master of Science in Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Art, Culture, and Technology.[2][3] He was a recipient of 2017-18 Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design[4] and was a 2019-20 Guggenheim Fellow.[5][6]

Selected works and projects

Project Park Spark

Project Park Spark (2012) is a dog waste powered streetlight installed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It features a miniature methane digester which feeds methane into an old fashioned gas streetlight.[7][8]

Cloud House

Cloud House (2016) is an art installation consisting of a house-like structure built from recycled wood and tin. Inside, it contains two rocking chairs, while a large cloud shaped sculpture is suspended over roof of the structure.[9] When visitors sit in the rocking chairs, they activate the cloud and water falls from the cloud onto the tin roof, creating the soothing sounds of rain on a tin roof.[10][11][12]

Storefront Theater

The Storefront Theater (2016) is an art installation and community center in Lyons, Nebraska. It re-conceptualizes the facade of an abandoned building to fold down into a theater that seats 80, transforming the town's main street into an outdoor theater.[13] Before Mazzotta acquired the property, it was an empty lot with a street fronting facade.[14]

Steeped in Exploration

Steeped in Exploration (2010)

HOME

HOME (known as Phoebe the Flamingo) (2022) is a public work of art located at the Central Terminal of Tampa International Airport. It depicts a hyperrealistic flamingo with its head and feet submerged, as if wading through water. The exaggerated scale of the flamingo in HOME puts the "lives of these birds in the focus, and puts us, as humans, in awe as they tower above us, reminding us that we all share the same home."[15]

RISING TOGETHER (2025)

RISING TOGETHER is a large, barn-like public artwork and community gathering space, sited on the campus of the National Western Center in Denver, Colorado. Functionally, the artwork is a programmable space intended to host poetry readings, classes, music, dancing, and other community-desired activities. The painted mural on the roof of the structure, titled Sacred Threads, is a collaboration with Denver muralist Bimmer Torres.[16]

The dedication day, June 14, 2025, opened with a blessing of the artworks by Grupo Tlaloc Danza Azteca, including a traditional Aztec dance performance, and closed with a live performance by Los Mocochetes in the barn structure. The piece’s slanted steel beams evokes the barn raising, a community event in which people contribute their strength for a common goal. Rudi Cerri, Public Art Program Manager for Denver Arts and Venues, describes the artwork as “a beautiful new space where community comes together.” RISING TOGETHER is part of a broader expansion of Denver's public art collection tied to the National Western Center's redevelopment.[17]

RISE (2025)

RISE is a monumental, kinetic sculpture of a jellyfish at San Diego International Airport Terminal 1 arrivals area. It is constructed from painted stainless steel and an architectural mesh material called Kaynemaile, originally developed by Kayne Horsham, the armor, weapons, and creatures art director for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.[18]

The sculpture's canopy is composed of thousands of interconnected rings that shimmer and sway in the wind, evoking the movement of marine life underwater. It is modeled after the purple-striped jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata), an aquatic species often found off the coast of San Diego.[19]

Mazzotta picked the jellyfish after consulting with researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography about the region's marine biology. He selected the sculpture’s colors to match the hues of a San Diego coastal sunset, rather than the jellyfish's natural tones.[20] 

Mazzotta describes the title, “RISE,” as a reminder that coastal communities need to be “keeping eyes on climate change and sea levels.”[21] The sculpture hints at the future impact of climate change on a coastal airport. He says “We have to keep our eye on climate change, sustainability and sea level rise,” otherwise “one day a jellyfish could be in the same location.”[20]

RISE was commissioned as part of a broader $10 million public art program for San Diego International Airport Terminal 1.[21]

Awards

2024

2023

  • CodaWORX Award, People’s Choice Award[23]

2020

  • NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship: Craft/Sculpture[24]

2018

  • Architizer A+ Award in the category of "Architecture + Community"[26]
  • Harpo Foundation Grant for Visual Artists[27]

2017

  • World Architecture News WAN Awards in the category of Adaptive Reuse[28]
  • American Architecture Award in the category Museums and Cultural Buildings [29]
  • Congress for the New Urbanism – Charter Award[30]
  • World Architecture Community – 20+10+X Award
  • CODA Awards Merit Award for Public Space – Cloud House

References

  1. ↑ "Gallery 3". Porch: An Architecture of Generosity. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  2. ↑ "Matthew Mazotta". MIT ACT.
  3. ↑ Smith, Heather (18 December 2015). "The wacky, messy tale of the man who just wanted to make a dog poop lamp". grist.org. Grist. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Matthew Mazzotta. Loeb Fellow 2018. Harvard Graduate School of Design. Accessed August 24, 2019
  5. ↑ "MATTHEW MAZZOTTA". www.gf.org. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION NAMES 2019 FELLOWS". www.artforum.com. Art Forum. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  7. ↑ Solon, Olivia. "DOG POOP POWERS PARK LIGHTS". Wired. Wired.com. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  8. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (11 September 2010). "Dog Poo Powers a Streetlight In Massachusetts Park". www.popsci.com. Popular Science. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ↑ Eldredge, Barbara (31 March 2017). "This "Cloud House" is a temple to the rain cycle". www.curbed.com. Curbed. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  10. ↑ Williams, Adam (30 March 2017). "Cloud-topped shelter makes it rain to help visitors relax". newatlas.com. New Atlas. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  11. ↑ Testado, Justine. "Make it rain as you sit on rocking chairs inside the Cloud House". archinect.com. Archinect.
  12. ↑ Hitti, Natashah (11 December 2017). "Dezeen's top 10 installations of 2017". www.dezeen.com. Dezeen. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Brocius, Ariana (16 February 2016). "In Lyons, Nebraska, A Big Art Project Revives A Small-Town Tradition". www.kcur.org. KCUR. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Jordahn, Sebastian (7 May 2019). "The Storefront Theater is successful because "the community takes it and makes it their own"". www.dezeen.com. Dezeen. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. ↑ "HOME - TAMPA — Matthew Mazzotta". Matthew Mazzotta. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  16. ↑ Venues, Denver Arts &. "New Denver Public Art at the National Western Center | Denver Arts & Venues". www.artsandvenuesdenver.com. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  17. ↑ denver-gazette (2025-06-11). "New art at National Western Center raises Denver collection to almost 500 pieces". Denver Gazette. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  18. ↑ "A giant pink jellyfish welcomes travelers at the airport's new Terminal 1". KPBS Public Media. 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  19. ↑ "RISE, Matthew Mazzotta". SAN Airport. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  20. 1 2 Diego, Chris Jennewein • Times of San (2025-09-16). "Visions for flight: The new world-class public art in Terminal 1". Peninsula Beacon (Pt.Loma/Ocean Beach). Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  21. 1 2 Clemetson, Jeff (2025-09-26). "SAN's Public Art Distinguishes Airport 'From All Others'". San Diego Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2025-10-29. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  22. ↑ "International Sculpture Center". sculpture.org. Archived from the original on 2026-04-26. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  23. ↑ Waligore, Words: Athena. "Raise a Glass to the 2023 CODAawards Winners". Interior Design. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  24. ↑ Aronoff, Amy (2020-10-06). "Introducing | 2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Finalists, and Panelists". Nyfa. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  25. ↑ "The Storefront Theater by Matthew Mazzotta wins Architecture Project of the Year at Dezeen Awards". Dezeen.com. November 27, 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  26. ↑ "2018 Plus Winners - Architizer A+Awards". winners.architizer.com. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  27. ↑ Foundation, Harpo (2018-02-07). "Matthew Mazzotta". Harpo Foundation. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  28. ↑ WAN Adaptive Reuse Award 2017 Winner Announced, World Architecture News, February 28, 2018. Accessed August 24, 2019
  29. ↑ Santos, Sabrina (2017-04-18). "2017 American Architecture Award Winners Announced". ArchDaily. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  30. ↑ CNU Announces 2017 Charter Awards, Congress for the New Urbanism, May 27, 2017. Accessed August 24, 2019
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