Naples, Florida-based contractor Quality Enterprises recently stunned the Internet – and fulfilled a promise to its Instagram fans – by recreating the world's most famous painting out of dirt, Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa."
(Check out the video at the end of this story to see the machines in action.)
The company rapidly gained traction on the social media platform thanks to its dirt artwork, adding over 100,000 new followers in the last seven months and commemorating the milestones along the way.
Quality Enterprises celebrated 10,000 followers in December 2023 by using its fleet of Caterpillar equipment to dig a massive “10K” into the ground. One commenter said the work was so clean that “it’s like they typed it into the ground.”
The company upped the ante again in February 2024, unveiling a massive Caterpillar logo cut into the earth - and a request for crowdsourced ideas for its next dirt art project to celebrate 100,000 followers.
Followers overwhelmingly voted on the comment, “Do the Mona Lisa.”
Quality Enterprises came through, trading in paintbrushes for Caterpillar excavators, bulldozers, and wheel loaders to precisely place aggregates of varying colors to create the finished product.
“We built this not only to show that we stay true to our word but to help build a platform to speak for the whole construction industry,” the company said in its Instagram post. “We can do whatever we set our minds to, and QE wants the industry to be recognized for how talented and skilled it is. Remember, as we continue to post our day-to-day operations (and occasionally some dirt art), we are doing it with the whole construction industry in mind.”
Followers were impressed, with one saying, “This has to be one of the most badass things I’ve seen in the construction industry.”
“This might be better than the actual Mona Lisa,” added another.
To see the “Dirt Mona Lisa,” check out Quality Enterprises’ Instagram video below:
To view other dirt artwork and projects by Quality Enterprises, check out their Instagram page.
