Pink Dolphin Monument, LGBT sculpture at R.A. Apffel Park, East Beach, Galveston Island, US

The Pink Dolphin Monument is a pink dolphin carved from red sandstone from the Texas coast, measuring 36 by 16 by 13 inches, mounted on a five-foot plinth in an open-air pavilion in R.A. Apffel Park/East Beach. The plinth copies the pavilion's columns and raises the dolphin so it appears to leap over the Gulf of Mexico. A poem accompanies the statue.

Created by artist Joe Joe Orangias with writer Sarah Sloane and scientist Frank Pega, the monument was inaugurated on July 25, 2014, as the first in the southern United States dedicated to gender and sexual minorities. In 2015 it appeared in the "Island Time" exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Artist Ryan Hawk restored the statue in 2019 after vandalism.

The pink dolphin figure refers to the historic Pink Dolphin Tavern in Galveston and to the logo of the Pink Posse, a local group of gender and sexual minority activists. The statue is accompanied by a poem, and at the unveiling ceremony participants poured the dust from carving it into the ocean.

The monument sits right on the beach and is easy to access from nearby parking and pathways. Sunset provides the best light for viewing and photography, and the surrounding park has benches where you can read the inscription.

The artist carved 243 small triangular chips from the original stone and scattered them across Galveston Island as hidden tributes. These hidden pieces create an invisible network linking the main monument to the wider island community.