At the Embassy Suites by Hilton LAX South in El Segundo, 'Butterfly Mosaic' catches the light and the eye in equal measure. Unveiled in 2024, the piece depicts the El Segundo blue butterfly, one of the smallest and most striking butterflies in North America. But this isn't a static portrait. The butterflies appear to be breaking free from stillness, wings spread mid-flight, frozen in a moment of transformation that feels anything but frozen.
The El Segundo blue butterfly is more than just beautiful. It's a survivor. Federally endangered and native to the local sand dunes and beaches, this tiny creature has become a symbol of the delicate balance between urban development and environmental preservation. As El Segundo has grown into a bustling coastal city, the butterfly's habitat has shrunk. What remains is precious, fragile, and worth fighting for.
That's the heart of this mosaic. It's not just art for decoration. It's art with purpose, designed to inspire wonder and action in equal parts. When hotel guests and community members encounter the piece, they're not just seeing something pretty. They're meeting a neighbor, one that needs their attention and care.
The mosaic was created as part of El Segundo Art Walk (ESAW) 2024 and the city's expanding outdoor art program, supported by Embassy Suites and the City of El Segundo's 1% for the Arts cultural fund. It debuted alongside a new butterfly mural and four additional paintings at the hotel, all part of a coordinated effort to weave environmental education into the fabric of public art.
But the mosaic alone tells only part of the story. Reality Experience Design, working with the City of El Segundo and ESAW, created an AR experience that brings the butterflies to life in a new way. Visitors scan a QR code, and suddenly digital butterflies take flight.
For Embassy Suites, the project represents a commitment to place. Hotels can exist anywhere, but this one wanted to be of El Segundo, not just in it. By celebrating the city's natural heritage and supporting public art that educates as much as it beautifies, the hotel becomes a partner in the community's broader mission: to grow thoughtfully, to honor what came before, and to protect what remains.
The mosaic joined the city-wide AR public art map for ESAW 2024, part of a coordinated vision to make El Segundo a model for how cities can integrate art, technology, and environmental awareness. Each piece on the map tells a story, and this one's message is clear: beauty and responsibility go hand in hand.
The El Segundo blue butterfly has been fighting for survival in a changing landscape for decades. Now, through this mosaic and its AR enhancement, it has a new kind of voice. It can tell its own story, share its own struggle, and inspire the kind of wonder that leads to action.
In a rapidly urbanizing coastal area, projects like the Butterfly Mosaic prove that development and conservation don't have to be enemies. Art can be the bridge. Technology can be the translator. And a tiny blue butterfly, captured in mosaic and brought to life through AR, can become a symbol not just of what we stand to lose, but of what we're committed to protecting.
El Segundo is showing that public art can do more than beautify spaces. It can change minds, spark conversations, and build a community that looks at its natural neighbors with new eyes—and a renewed sense of responsibility.
