RE Log Spring 2023

SPRING 2023 Ransom Everglades LOG 13 Meg Daly ’78 crosses the street to offer a tour of The Underline, a recently opened, soon-to-be-completed 10-mile linear park running through the heart of Miami. Trains thunder over the Metrorail tracks above, buses rumble nearby, and dog walkers, joggers and cyclists make their way to and fro. “All of this, edge to edge, was blighted before,” says Daly, The Underline founder, as she makes her way to the newly created urban pathway, bright with vegetation, buzzing with activity, clean and tidy, and clearly marked with freshly painted way finders. Daly suddenly drops to a knee near a cluster of thriving native plants as three Atala butterflies dance about. She points to a cocoon attached to a coontie plant. “Sometimes there are so many cocoons on the plants they look like chandeliers,” she says, then heads south on the path that runs alongside SW 1st Ave. Strains of music can be heard amid the traffic noise, and in a moment the source is clear. A man sits at a brilliantly colored, hand-painted piano strategically placed along the route offering random moments of music. He is playing, impromptu, for a handful of delighted observers. Another short stroll brings Daly alongside a 20-by-70 foot mural painted in the colors of the Bahamian flag by Haitian American artist Edny Jean Joseph, whose commissioned piece (“The Allegory”) depicts the struggle of Bahamian craftsmen brought to Miami to work on Flagler’s railroad to insinuate themselves into society. In this area known as the Oolite Room, benches are carved from the native oolite rock to bring attention to the native bedrock. In the space of just a few minutes and across a half of a mile, Daly’s mini tour has illuminated key elements of The Underline, a project she has spearheaded with the considerable help of a like-minded, service-oriented team of Ransom Everglades alumni. As people gather – and they are gathering – they are finding themselves immersed in local art, history, nature and sustainable practices, with countless opportunities to engage and enjoy performances, food, sports, playgrounds and games. Constructed with extraordinary attention to detail, this massive undertaking is already succeeding in connecting Miamians to their environment and each other. “What is most overwhelming is the number of people who have helped,” Daly said. “The community of people who have come together to deliver this vision, this shared passion, this shared belief, it is very empowering. And many of them are from Ransom Everglades. It’s magical.” in the City “The community of people who have come together to deliver this vision, this shared passion, this shared belief, it is very empowering. And many of them are from Ransom Everglades. It’s magical.” – Meg Daly ’78, founder and CEO of The Underline