Is Heart in the Park really the world’s tallest heart sculpture? TCPalm fact-checked it

PORT ST. LUCIE — Heart in the Park is officially completed and ready for its Aug. 23 grand opening, but the public artwork, which for more than four years has been called “the world’s tallest heart sculpture,” has yet to receive that designation from Guinness World Records.

The 73-foot, stainless-steel Heart in Tradition surpassed a Portuguese sculpture roughly half its size to become the tallest documented heart sculpture in the world.

But what’s a world record without being in the Guinness Book of World Records?

“World’s tallest heart sculpture” is not a title Guinness World Records currently monitors, Guinness spokesperson Kylie Galloway said in a statement.

The company — originally an offshoot of Guinness Brewery to settle pub bets — tracks roughly 65,000 records worldwide. The company’s iconic annual book series once was a marketing campaign distributed for free to British and Irish pubs.

“We have not received an application related to this record title,” Galloway said. “If the developer is interested in pursuing a record title related to this, we would encourage them to submit an application.”

For companies such as Mattamy Homes — the master developer of Tradition, which commissioned and paid for the sculpture — application fees depend on the scope of the promotional campaign and the professional services provided by Guinness, Galloway said.

Mattamy Homes officials declined to comment on the status of the sculpture’s world record application.

However, Heart in the Park’s application to Guinness is in progress, said Jefre “JEFRË” Manuel, the Orlando artist who designed and built the sculpture..

Heart made whole

Weeks after the Heart’s initial July 12 opening date was delayed, Port St. Lucie spokesperson Scott Samples said the city had yet to receive the third-party inspection reports necessary to grant the project its certificate of completion, the city’s official sign-off for public-art projects.

Now, though, Samples said, the permits have been submitted and the certificate of completion was sent to Mattamy Homes July 30.

Although a Guinness certificate will be missing from its grand opening, Heart in the Park towers above its heart-shaped competition around the globe, based on a TCPalm analysis of other heart sculptures.

‘Francis’ in Portugal

The silver medal for Big Hearts goes to a 39-foot-tall sculpture in Portugal.

“Francisco, o maior coração do mundo” — which translated from Portuguese means, “Francis, the biggest heart of the world” — is the bright red heart sculpture beside a welcome center for the Sanctuary of Fatima, a pilgrimage site for members of the Catholic Church.

The “Francis” heart was created by artist Fernando Crespo in 2017 and dedicated to Pope Francis.

The sculpture carries an inscription of the pope’s name and May 13, 2017, the date Francis visited the Sanctuary of Fatima for the centennial of the 1917 “Our Lady of Fatima” apparitions — a series of appearances, Catholics believe, of the Virgin Mary to three children in Fatima.

‘Love Me’ in Mexico

The bronze medal goes to a 33-foot-tall sculpture in Mexico.

A mirrored steel heart sculpture — a similar composition to Heart in the Park — stands in an undisclosed ranch in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. It was commissioned in 2021, according to the artist’s website.

It’s the largest sculpture from artist Richard Hudson’s “Love Me” sculpture series. He has other “Love Me” sculptures in California, Dubai and Taiwan, according to his website.

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Hearts in San Francisco

Honorable mention goes to Hearts in San Francisco, a world-renowned public-art project.

The hearts are placed in public places in San Franciso and auctioned off to support the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, the city’s only public hospital.

These hearts, although not tall, are plentiful and vibrant.

Jack Randall is TCPalm’s economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at jack.randall@tcpalm.com.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm’s Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Is Heart in the Park really the world’s tallest heart sculpture?