New World Mural 1513

        The New World mural 1513 

The New World mural 1513 that now hangs in the Freedom Tower Miami is the second New version, painted and completely recreated by the Miami Artisans in 1988. It is a total New recreation of the lost design, hanging in the Tower in 1988'' The first mural that hung in the at the Daily News/Miami Tower" in 1925, to which the artists and designer were lost and forgotten with the passing of time, was rediscovered in 1987.

 Paradoxically, history has had a tendency to repeat itself once again; This is how for a second time, the story almost has repeated the loss of the names of the authentic authors and the true story behind the mural. Wade Foy, John Conroy and William M. Coulthard were the principal artists of the mural's remaking, responsible for research and rendering/redrawing. Supported by an invited/honorary/collaborative group of three more artists, Phyllis Shaw, Jerome Bruer Bergsen and this author, Ana Bikic. 

The pictorial contents of the mural represent Ponce De Leon with his triumphant arrival in the New World, next to the Native Tequesta-American people's Chief, peacefully surveying the Pangaea in addition to a whole message of hope and faith in the pursuit of new horizons and promises about fruitful relationships for a future respecting it's past. 

In 1987, the Freedom /News Tower was completely repaired. During this restoration, when the construction workers removed panels on the second /Mezzanine level they exposed the top part of a mural semi-glued; the ragged remnant looked like it was part of a cartographic map from the 1920s. Richard Heisenbottle, who was the Architect in charge of the Tower's project found black & white photos revealing a large mural over 44 ft long by 25 f height. He commissioned a new recreation of the mural from the Miami Artisans group in 1988. 

They carefully studied the history and researched the details surrounding both the time of the Tower's construction and the events around 1509 to 1513, passing long hours in the Miami Libraries, reading and copying relevant data,  and findings of historical knowledge concerning the event in order to appropriately represent the creation of a new true masterpiece. In this way they achieved a magnificent piece of Art, characterizing in the composition the most faithful translation of all the symbols of the past, as well as the messages pertinent to our present-day understandings. The Miami Artisans brought in this form of reunion a finding of the primitive passion and the drama and glory of history, with its respective messages as well as the renovated image.


Freedom Tower Miami Mural 1988 Bronze Wall Plaque            

https://www.facebook.com/Freedomtowermiami 

You can visit The New Mural 1513 in Downtown Miami 

The New World mural 1513,  Painted by Miami Artisans 1988 is hanging in the maisenate room on the Freedom Tower, in Downtown Miami and MDC Museum of Art + Design