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| The New World Mural 1513 - 1988 The recreation was commissioned by architect Richard Heisenbottle during the tower’s restoration, uniting six artists under a single vision: Wade Foy, John Conroy, William Mark Coulthard, Phylis Shaw, Gerome Villa Bergsen, and Ana Bikic, Freedom Tower Miami Florida USA Historical Budling and Fine Art By the Miami Artisans 1988 Group |
The Freedom Tower Mural 1513 — Composition, Vision & Legacy
The Return of a Lost Image
Few artistic works embody Miami’s layered identity as vividly as the New World Mural 1513, housed in the Grand Hall of the Freedom Tower. Conceived and painted in 1988 by The Miami Artisans, it resurrected the spirit of a long-lost mural commissioned in 1925 for The Miami Daily News Tower, the building that would later become known as the Freedom Tower.
The recreation was commissioned by architect Richard Heisenbottle during the tower’s restoration, uniting six artists under a single vision: Wade Foy, John Conroy, William Mark Coulthard, Phylis Shaw, Gerome Villa Bergsen, and Ana Bikic as colorist.
The team worked in the Miami Coliseum, one of the few spaces large enough to accommodate two monumental canvases measuring 44 feet wide by 25 feet high. Over six months, they reconstructed not only a mural, but a philosophy, a visual dialogue between the Old World and the New.
A Cartography of the Human Spirit
The mural unfolds as an imagined traveler’s map, a cartography of discovery and encounter.
Its vast composition weaves together galleons, waves, mermaids, celestial patterns, and symbols of navigation, tracing humanity’s passage across unknown seas.
At the center stands Juan Ponce de León, depicted at the moment of contact with the Tequesta Miamians, whose culture predates European arrival. Between them lies a hand-painted poem by Edwin Markham (1852–1940), Poet Laureate of America and author of the dedication poem for the Lincoln Memorial Address. Born in Oregon City, California, and later living in New York, Markham wrote of freedom, justice, and compassion- themes that resonate perfectly within the Freedom Tower’s ideals.
The calligraphy of the poem was executed by Gerome Villa Bergsen, whose precise lettering transforms text into architecture, while Phylis Shaw refined the decorative center and wood-graining. Ana Bikic, as colorist, harmonized every hue to create the luminous atmospheric depth that unites sea, land, and legend infusing the mural with a serene equilibrium that balances its grand narrative.
A Mural of Reflection and Duality
In its essence, the New World Mural 1513 is a meditation on duality, discovery and loss, progress and memory, civilization and nature. The mirror at its heart functions both literally and symbolically: as a reflective surface and as a metaphor for introspection, reminding each viewer that history is not distant; it includes them.
The composition reads almost like a fresco of time: waves curve into the tower’s arches, figures emerge from light and mist, and mythology coexists with documentation. The mural invites the eye to travel, from ship to shore, from human encounter to cosmic horizon, in an endless conversation between past and present.
Research and Process
Before painting began, the artists conducted extensive research through public libraries and archives, studying historical maps, travel logs, and early Spanish chronicles. They reconstructed the mural’s imagery with both historical accuracy and interpretive freedom, choosing to portray Florida not as conquest, but as encounter.
The work was completed entirely by hand in acrylic and oil on canvas, then mounted permanently onto the ballroom wall. The installation required weeks of coordination, scaffolding, and adjustment to align the two vast panels into a seamless composition.
Loss, Recovery, and Copyright
After its unveiling in 1988, the mural became the central feature of the restored tower. Yet within years, new ownership and political changes led to confusion about its origin. To protect the integrity of the work, William Mark Coulthard and Ana Bikic registered the copyright in the 1990s, ensuring that the creation of The Miami Artisans would remain part of the official record.
When the building underwent another restoration in 2014, both artists participated again, safeguarding the mural’s color, structure, and meaning. Their efforts restored not just paint, but historical truth.
Legacy and Recognition
The New World Mural 1513 stands today as an enduring conversation between art and architecture, myth and memory. It transforms the Freedom Tower’s Grand Hall into a sanctuary of reflection, a place where citizens, historians, and travelers gather under the same ideals that shaped Florida itself: freedom, discovery, and dialogue.
Visitors over the decades, among them Celia Cruz, Michelle Obama, and members of the Spanish royal family, have spoken before it, their images reflected in the mirror that connects past and present.
As the Freedom Tower celebrates its centennial, the artists continue to advocate for a plaque acknowledging the six creators whose collective vision brought this mural to life — recognizing it as one of Miami’s greatest modern artistic achievements.
“The New World Mural 1513” — painted in 1988, restored in 2014, remains a luminous record of Miami’s identity: where waves, history, and humanity meet in one timeless reflection.
Ponce De Leon Mural Miami Florida.
Read the official historical documentation at NewWorldMural1513.com
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