Miami's RICHMOND HEIGHTS BLACK PIONEERS MONUMENT
From Brotha Dinizulu Tinnie,
Special
Thanks to Commissioner Dennis C, Moss and staff, Miami-Dade County
Board of County Commissioners and Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, Patricia
Romeu and Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, County Department of Public
Works, Deacon George L. Baldwin and Richmond Heights Neighborhood Crime
Watch, Richmond Heights Alliance, Kuumba Artists Robert McKnight and
Altine, JEC Contractors Corp, Puma Marble Co., Artistic Bronze, Soliart,
Alejandro Martinez, 360˚ Surveying
& Mapping, LLC, Dr.
Wallis H. Tinnie, Antoinette M. Riley, Michelle T. Riley, PIONEER
FAMILY MEMBERS Darlene E. Akins, Ethel Moore Brown, Nerissa J. Brown,
Margaret Holloway-Corley, Alphonso McCray, Debbie Peason Harden, Betty
Pearson, Betty Ann Swain, Ruth Taylor, Luther H. Wallace Jr., and
Lynette Wallace, the Richmond Heights community and all who made this
project and Dedication possible (with apologies to any whom I may have
omitted).
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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDIA CONTACT: Brandi Reddick:
305-375-5436/Brandi@miamidade.gov
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY ART IN PUBLIC PLACES ANNOUNCES THE
COMPLETION AND DEDICATION OF THE RICHMOND HEIGHTS PIONEERS MONUMENT
A site specific installation by Miami-based artist
Dinizulu Gene Tinnie honors the pioneers of
Richmond Heights
MIAMI, May 20,
2014 - Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, through its Art in
Public Places (APP) program, is pleased to announce
the completion of the Richmond Heights
Pioneers Monument by artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie. The
triangular-shaped granite and bronze
monument is located at the prominent intersection of
Lincoln Boulevard/Olivia L. Edwards
Boulevard and Madison Street. An initiative of the
Richmond Heights Neighborhood Crime
Watch organization and the Office of Miami-Dade County
Commissioner Dennis C. Moss,
District 9, the work honors the pioneers of the
historic planned community of Richmond
Heights which was founded in 1949 by Captain Frank
Crawford Martin, a former U.S. Army Air Corps pilot, for African American
Veterans of World War II.
To mark the 65th anniversary of the
founding of the community, the Richmond Heights Pioneers
Monument will be dedicated on Memorial Day, Monday,
May 26, 2014 at 10:30 AM in honor of
the twenty-six families who became the first to
purchase property in the development.
“This impressive installation is designed by one of
Miami’s most thoughtful artists with the idea
of honoring and celebrating the pioneers of the
Richmond Heights community in a significant
and powerful way,” said Michael Spring, Director of
the Department of Cultural Affairs. “This
new public art work was made possible through the
involvement of the citizens of Richmond
Heights and the leadership of Commissioner Dennis
Moss, who is committed to the impact that
public art can have on creatively commemorating these
community pioneers.”
“It has been a
singular honor to have been commissioned to design the Pioneers Monument for Richmond
Heights, a community with a rich and unique history and heritage, worthy of
national recognition,” stated artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie. “The design, which
combines the low-gabled silhouette of the typical early Richmond Heights’ home,
with the suggestions of the community’s rising aspirations and of flight and
aviation in tribute to Capt. Franck C. Martin, is intended to be dynamic,
including reflections on the polished granite, changing with the point of view
of the observer, particularly from the typical height of a vehicle window.”
About Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places
Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places is a program of
the Miami-Dade County Department of
Cultural Affairs and is responsible for the commission
and purchase of artworks by
contemporary artists in all media. One of the first
public art programs in the country, Miami-
Dade Art in Public Places was established in 1973 with
the passage of an ordinance allocating
1.5% of construction cost of new county and municipal
buildings for the purchase or commission of artworks, educational programs and
collection maintenance. The Art Trust Fund is administered by a County
Commission-appointed citizens’ board, the Art in Public Places Trust, in consultation
with its Professional Advisory Committee. For more information about the Art in
Public Places Program and the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, please
visit
About the Artist
Dinizulu Gene Tinnie is a New York-born, Miami-based
visual artist, writer, educator, community activist and independent researcher.
Tinnie, whose formal background includes foreign languages, literature and
linguistics, has an active interest in community uplift through historic preservation,
cultural arts, improved wellness and health care. He is the founder and
coordinator of Kuumba Artists Collective of South
Florida. As a visual artist, Mr. Tinnie’s
paintings, sculptures, drawings and graphic designs have
been widely exhibited and collected.
His works, rendered in a signature style of geometric,
figurative, and multidimensional elements, can be seen around the Miami area in
public settings. He is a writer and an avid social
commentator who has published numerous articles in The
Miami Times and South Florida
Times weeklies, The Miami Herald, FlaVour magazine,
South Florida History magazine, the
bilingual Afro-Cuban publication Islas, and the
venerable Journal of African American History, in
addition to presenting a number of research papers at
academic conferences.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY DEPARTMENT
OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
111 NW 1ST Street, Suite 625
Miami, FL 33128
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