Overtown Hope Mural Celebrates Black Culture At TECO Property

MIAMI, FL — With the completion of Overtown’s newest mural, a 1,200-foot-long piece celebrating the Black community, the artwork immediately grabbed the title of Miami’s longest mural.

The Overtown Hope Mural even surpassed Wynwood’s infamous public art projects.

Painted at TECO Energy’s property in the neighborhood at 60 NW 17th Street, the project was completed by Moving Lives of Kids Community Mural Project (MLK), an arts organization that focuses on youth development and education.

Kyle Holbrook, artist and founder of MLK, previously painted a mural on the property about six years ago.

“It was deteriorating, fading a little on the one side,” he said. “Then, there was graffiti on the back.”

Last year, Holbrook updated a portion of the wall with a mural celebrating the Black Lives Matter movement, painting images of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Colin Kaepernick.

With its proximity to Dorsey Park, a community focal point where numerous events and gatherings take place, the area saw numerous BLM protests starting the day after Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer last year.

TECO invited Holbrook to incorporate the protests’ messag—es of anti-racism and anti-brutality into a mural on its fence.

“That was really cool for a corporation to allow a protest of that magnitude,” Holbrook said.

Later in the year, he was invited back to create a mural honoring the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.

Then, in early 2021, TECO invited his organization, which paints murals around the world, to create a mural on the entire length of fence — about 1,200 feet long — surrounding its property at 60 NW 17th Street.

“A big, beautiful canvas for a mural artist right in the center of Overtown,” Holbrook said.

The mural is an opportunity to showcase African American culture ahead of the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death, he added. “It’s important social, public art.”

Working with artists Tierra Armstrong and Kanarie Townsend, as well as community leader James “Buckwheat” Gibson, MLK created the imagery for the mural to build on and connect the Bryant and Floyd pieces previously painted.

The artists invited some of the youth from the nearby Touching Miami with Love organization to work on the mural with them.

The mural celebrates strong Black women with images of First Lady Michelle Obama, tennis powerhouse Serena Williams, the first female millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, poet Maya Angelou and Harriet Tubman.

Another portion of the mural honors local victims of gun violence, Holbrook added. “The mural is a reminder of the continued importance to be aware of the gun violence problems in the community and to spread that awareness. There needs to be support and help in this community to solve these gun violence problems.”

This section of the wall uses orange as the predominant color as a symbol of gun violence awareness and the need for gun law reform, he said.

Other themes that appear in the mural include the bond between fathers and daughters.

“That’s really important to me,” Holbrook said. “You’re not just making the babies but taking care of them, being there every day with the children and your daughters.”

The mural also features images of young girls using their imagination while playing in the sand and grass.

“In both, they don’t have technology with them. They don’t have toys. They’re just using their imagination and nature,” Holbrook said.

Meanwhile, another image depicts a Black man reading a book.

“These are images you may not see every day, but the power of public art and imagery is that these images can be part of your subconscious and if you see them every day, they can help reinforce them by being exposed to such positive imagery,” Holbrook said.