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 65^th 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

www.miamidadepublicart.org and www.miamidadearts.org.

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