Four Metrorail support columns along The Underline near Coconut Grove now carry a permanent piece of Bahamian storytelling. Internationally recognized artist Gio Swaby unveiled her installation Steady Sunward on Saturday, transforming the columns between SW 31st and SW 32nd Avenues into a tribute to the cultural ties between Miami and The Bahamas, according to the City of Miami.
The unveiling celebration, held at Metrorail columns 374 N-S and 375 N-S, featured a live Junkanoo band, Bahamian light bites, and remarks from Swaby alongside Miami City Commissioners Ralph Rosado and Damian Pardo, according to Greater Miami & Miami Beach. The site sits a short walk from the Boys & Girls Club of Miami, per the same account. Swaby, born in Nassau in 1991 and now based in Toronto, learned to sew from her mother and has built an international reputation for textile portraits held in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, the outlet notes.
A Title Drawn From the Bahamian National Anthem
Steady Sunward takes its name directly from a line in the Bahamian national anthem, “March On, Bahamaland,” which reads “steady sunward, tho' the weather hide the wide and treacherous shoal” — a phrase symbolizing hope and resilience, according to Wikipedia. The installation uses silhouetted figures inspired by the circle of women Swaby knew growing up, exploring themes of Black womanhood and community, per Eventbrite's event listing for the unveiling.
The project was commissioned and financed with primary grant support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, working in collaboration with the City of Miami's Arte D4 initiative and Friends of The Underline, the station's report indicates. The Knight Foundation has long served as a major financial backer of public arts and urban activation projects across South Florida, per the same account.
Rooted in Coconut Grove's Bahamian History
The installation's location next to Coconut Grove ties it directly to the historic “Little Bahamas of Coconut Grove” enclave, where 19th-century Bahamian immigrants settled and provided key craftsmanship that helped build early Miami before the city's 1896 incorporation, according to Essence. The City of Miami officially designated that area a historic neighborhood in a July 2022 resolution, Essence reports.
Steady Sunward is the latest addition to Arte D4, Commissioner Rosado's district-wide public art program built under his C.A.S.A. master plan — an acronym for Community, Adaptability, Safety, and Affordability — which integrates murals, sculptures, and placemaking projects across District 4 neighborhoods, according to El Vocero. Ahead of Steady Sunward, the initiative had already rolled out several projects in 2026, including artist benches in Citrus Grove in July, the “You Belong Here” mural in Golden Pines in June, and climate elevation sculptures by Xavier Cortada across eight District 4 parks earlier in August, per the City of Miami.
Part of a Growing Linear Park
The Underline itself is a 10-mile, 120-acre linear park and urban trail running beneath Miami-Dade's elevated Metrorail system, which opened its first phase in 2021, added Phase 2 in April 2024, and is slated for full completion to Dadeland South by late 2026, according to Miami-Dade County. Hoodline covered the Underline's Phase 2 debut near the Vizcaya Metrorail station in 2024, and the park has since become a recurring backdrop for community events, including a Coconut Grove waterfront World Cup fan village earlier this summer.
The concept for the park traces back to 2013, when founder Meg Daly broke both arms in a cycling accident, began riding the Metrorail during her recovery, and recognized the potential of the shaded, underused land beneath the elevated tracks, according to Greater Miami & Miami Beach. Daly went on to partner with James Corner Field Operations, the landscape architecture firm behind New York's High Line, the outlet notes. Public art was built into The Underline's master plan from the outset as a permanent destination feature, with Steady Sunward now joining that growing collection along a corridor designed to serve more than 100,000 residents living within a 10-minute walk, per the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
The City of Miami's social media post announcing the unveiling notes that its account is not monitored around the clock and directs residents to call 911 for emergencies rather than reporting them through the post's comments.
