“All Hands in For Surfside,” a mural on a Wynwood residential tower, honors victims of the South Florida condo collapse, first responders.
Patch | Tiffany Razzano | Posted Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 2:45 pm ET | Updated Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 10:48 am ET
MIAMI, FL — When mural artist Kyle Holbrook learned about the tragic June 24 condo collapse that killed dozens in Surfside, he scrapped his plans for a mural at a high-rise residential building in Wynwood and quickly came up with a new design.
The 45-foot-high mural, “All Hands In For Surfside,” at the Pinnacle building at 500 NW 36th Street is dedicated to the victims of the Champlain Towers South collapse and the first responders working tirelessly to find them in the devastation, he said.
Holbrook is the founder of Moving Lives of Kids Community Mural Project (MLK), an arts organization that focuses on youth development and education, and has created murals across the globe.
“I always try and use my art, my talent, the only thing I do good, I always try to use it to do some type of social cause or social meaning that’s more than just a pretty picture,” Holbrook said. “I had a design for the wall, but once this (condo collapse) happened I talked to the property owner about changing it. I said, ‘Let’s do something that could have more meaning. Something that could provide a place for people to remember, a memorial, somewhere people could come and pray or help to heal them.’”
The result is a colorful mural that Holbrook hand painted with artist Activ8tor over 10 days not long after the tragedy.
The hands in the painting are different sizes and colors “to represent different ages and genders and races, just to be representative of everybody,” he said.
The bright colors between the hands draw attention to the mural as people drive or walk by it, he added. “I think the bright colors also make it hopeful in such a tragedy.”
The design also features geometric shapes above the hands to represent the collapse and cubes of various sizes to represent removing the rubble and debris from the site, Holbrook said. “And putting the pieces back together. That could be the pieces of people’s lives back together. It probably won’t ever be the same for those families.”
The condo collapse in Surfside has affected everyone in South Florida, he added. Living in North Bay Village, he usually goes to the beach not far from where the condo stood.
“There’s a park right next to where that tragedy happened,” he said. “I’m usually on that beach and behind me is that building or was that building… Probably some of the residents were on the beach, too. I’ve been thinking a lot about them. When I was on the beach, they probably would have been there.”
He doesn’t want the victims to ever be forgotten. Likewise, he wants the first responders to be honored for their work.
“This is also for the heroes, the rescue workers. They’re there every day, recovering people, looking for survivors. This is about their mental health, too, and their families. They’re seeing this tragedy firsthand,” he said.
Holbrook, who lives in a condo about the same age as Champlain Towers, said the collapse “a wake-up call for everybody.”
He added, “I just wanted to do something big and remind people about what happened, so it’s not forgotten…Just talking about it now, I get emotional thinking about it, and I understand the impact that public art can make. Hopefully, the families understand that I did this out of respect for them. It could have been anybody. Life is precious.”
