DATE: August 28, 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: Jody Horne-Leshinsky,
Broward County Cultural Division
PHONE: 954-357-7463
EMAIL: jleshinsky@broward.org
BROWARD COUNTY, FL - The first of nine VisualEYES murals designed for each of the County Commissioner districts was unveiled last night in the City of Tamarac at City Hall. With both County and City Commissioners in attendance, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter addressed the crowd as a beautiful Florida sunset graced the ceremony and welcomed artist Ruben Ubeira's artwork Lady Justice to the City of Tamarac.
City of Tamarac Mayor Harry Dressler welcomed attendees and Commissioner Ritter spoke about Broward 100 and the importance of the murals in each of the commission districts and Port Everglades. There will be ten murals in all. She noted their relevance with respect to community involvement and also admired the fact that they will live long after Broward's centennial year is complete.
Artist Ruben Ubeira acknowledged his grand mother and aunt in attendance before he spoke about his learning experience with this project. "I have learned as an artist that you can do your work in collaboration with a community," he said.
Lady Justice, as the artwork has been named, symbolizes and reflects the nature of the Tamarac community and the location in which it is installed. Through community engagement and working closely with the residents in order to understand the social issues at hand, Ubeira found his research directed towards his classical training and the history of art, especially statues and paintings created in the 18th and 19th centuries. Commissioned with creating this mural for the City Hall building that also houses the Broward County Sheriff's Tamarac office, Ubeira felt history and justice came together in the form of a lady with scales. His community engagement activities involved seniors, youth and the Police Cadets who contributed theme of history and law for this important artwork. The colors he chose are from the colors of the logo of the City of Tamarac and his aim was to have the artwork create a sense of community pride.
Ruben Gerardo Ubiera Gonzalez, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is a neo-figurative artist, known for his strong use of the line, post graffism inspired technique/aesthetic, urban murals, mixed-media pieces and installations, often created with reclaimed-objects and found artifacts. He paints and draws in the style considered "post-graffism," but he prefers to call it urban-pop, since he has lived most of his life in urban, populated areas and most of his inspiration is derived from the interactivity between man and his urban environment. He lives in the City of Weston.
Visit Broward100.org for more information on the County's centennial celebrations.
About Broward 100 - Celebrating the Art of Community Partners
'Broward 100 - Celebrating the Art of Community' is a yearlong, community-wide celebration that began in October 2014. Broward 100 will commemorate Broward County's centennial with bold, innovative art and performance projects that attract visitors and bring Broward residents together using our arts, sports and recreation venues, natural attractions and incredible diversity to creatively bridge, bond and build their communities. The celebration will be steeped in historical perspective and more importantly, will look toward the future. For more information, email Broward100@broward.org. Follow Broward 100 on Facebook.com/BrowardCounty100, Twitter.com/Broward100, and Instagram.com/BrowardArts.
Please visit the Broward 100 Partners and Sponsors webpage for further information on each.
About Broward 100 - Celebrating the Art of Community Partners
About the Broward Cultural Division
About the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
About the Community Foundation of Broward
About Wells Fargo
About Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Sponsors