Pompano Beach is a wonderful place, and I would have loved for The Coral Throne™ to live there. Learn more about the city at pompanobeachfl.gov.

In 2025, I was selected as the winner of the sculpture commission for Shipwreck Park by the City of Pompano Beach, Florida.

I then proceeded to build a full scope public art plan, tourism campaign, sculpture brand, Instagram pages, and dedicated web presence for The Coral Throne™. 
Welcome to CoralThrone.com

This was all intended to uplift Pompano Beach and drive tourism and economic opportunity, all the while creating and installing a world-class, iconic metal sculpture. 

Despite 288,000+ reel views, 25,000+ site visits in one two week period, diver and reef conservation interest from over 25 countries… 

…the selected sculpture was canceled after I proposed revisions to the contract. 

During that time, divers and conservationists expressed strong interest in the project. 

The City stated that its contracts are issued as-is, and that editing, revisions, or negotiation were not permitted. 
 
To be clear: a city, dive site, luxury hotel, or any commissioning body has every right to ask for whatever terms it believes are appropriate. I don't deny that. 

An artist also has the right to politely say no.

In the end, we couldn’t agree on intellectual property and other terms. 

Specifically, the proposed agreement required:

> Transfer of full intellectual property ownership of the sculpture
> Assignment of all derivative rights, in perpetuity
> Contract language broad enough to restrict future underwater or throne-based sculpture concepts anywhere
> An attached exhibit asserting ownership and control over this website 
> ​Indeterminate end dates and no clear liability caps for insurance

Protections against direct duplication are normal in public art. Permanent ownership of an artist’s body of work — past and future — is not.

“No duplicates”? Reasonable.
“Never another underwater throne sculpture, anywhere, ever”?
Not so much.

So I declined. And kept my rights.

Following that decision, I received a request to clarify municipal affiliation, which included a cease and desist letter.

THEREFORE:
This website is no longer affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated in any way with the City of Pompano Beach, Florida.

No hard feelings — just different contracts. 
We’re good.

Why This Site Still Exists;

This site remains online as a demonstration project — documenting what The Coral Throne™ can deliver. 

It shows how a site-specific sculpture concept can resonate globally within the dive and public-art communities, driving tourism and economic impact.

The Coral Throne™ is not tied to one city or one location. 

So now, ​The Coral Throne™ is open and avaliable to any ​City, dive sites, luxury hotel, destinations, resorts, and partners world -wide that dreams bigger.  

NOTE:
There are no replicas.
Every Coral Throne™ installation is a one-of-a-kind sculpture, designed exclusively for its site and commissioning partner.

To those who see the opportunity and want to explore what it could become in their waters.

The Coral Throne™ is available. To any location bold enough to have it. 

Questions? → michael@michaelherold.com 

Read the full backstory here.

Site language is being updated in good faith to clarify municipal affiliation.