Little Haiti Mural project

Wynwood resident artists and founder of Viophilia Ivette Cabrera and Amir Shakir aka Color Dreamers begin the process of creating a new mural in Little Haiti Miami for the community organization Little Haiti Mural Project curated by YoMiami. The concept of the artwork is based on the Haitian Saint Ezili Dantor who is considered the protector of children or the Black Madonna in Haitian Voodoo. She encompasses the spirit of motherhood and is considered a tough warrior who honors honesty, vulnerability and hard work.
“We believe in the power of the Haitian people to stand strong and united. The culture is very diverse and has an amazing history of being the first nation to abolish slavery by organizing a slave revolt against French colonial dominance. In modern day, we can see the trickled effects as the Haitian community is slowly beginning to be overrun by developers closing in on the area. Our message was to create mural that represents strength and awaken the warrior spirit within the Haitian community to fight gentrification by others. We hope to have a lasting impression on all those that visit the area. We encourage visitors to respect and honor the Haitian traditions and help support locally Haitian owned businesses.”

We were in the the early art renaissance of Wynwood from 2009. As artists whose spaces were taken due to higher rents when developers took over the area, we understand the importance of artist spaces as sacred sanctuaries and walls of exhibition to drive important messages. This artwork represents our journey, our strength and our resilience as artists who strive for space.

We stand string with our black community in Little Haiti and hope this mural inspires them to stay strong.

A big appreciation to Stefanie (model) and the two Haitian children who made this mural possible. Big thanks to developer Mallory Kauderer for his diligent efforts in making this wall part of our story.