Bakehouse Art Complex, City of Miami Chairwoman and District 5 Commissioner Christine King, and Bank of America Celebrate Conservation of Purvis Young mural

Miami, FL – Bakehouse Art Complex, in partnership with the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, is pleased to announce the completion of the conservation of an iconic public mural by self-taught artist Purvis Young. The mural, which was created between 1998 and 2003, has been conserved by RLA Conservation with funding from the Bank of America Conservation Project. 

To celebrate the completion of the conservation project, Bakehouse Art Complex will host a public celebration on Saturday, May 13, 2023, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, at its location 561 NW 32 Street, Miami, FL., 33127. The event will be attended by City of Miami Chairwoman and District 5 Commissioner Christine King, Bank of America Miami President Gene Schaefer, and Senior Vice President Vania Laguerre. The event, free to the public, will include a reveal of the mural, refreshments, and an opportunity to visit artists’ studios from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm during the annual county-wide event Artist Open.

“The completion of the conservation project of Purvis Young’s mural marks yet another milestone in District 5,” said City of Miami Chairwoman and District 5 Commissioner Christine King. “Young’s public mural at the Bakehouse Art Complex is a nod to the culture, vibrancy, diversity, and vast entertainment history emanating from Overtown, where Young lived and worked.  Our community is finally receiving the recognition and celebration it deserves with this kind of cultural contribution."

Born in Liberty City, Purvis Young was a self-taught artist. He came to prominence through the development of Goodbread Alley, a site-specific intervention that involved attaching large painted panels to dilapidated buildings in Overtown, a historic Miami neighborhood that was the epicenter of Black culture in the city. The scale and ambition of this work, which eventually was destroyed, propelled Young to local notoriety, and he became “perhaps the most famous painter to ever come out of Florida” as opined in a Washington Post article.

“Knowing the importance of supporting access to the arts, Bank of America is excited to partner with Bakehouse Art Complex,” said Gene Shaefer, President, Bank of America Miami. “We promote cultural sustainability through the Bank of America Art Conservation Project because we know that art and objects of cultural heritage are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of time and the conservation of these works allows society at large to continue to be inspired by the rich diversity of the human experience. We support this work because we believe in preserving this shared history for future generations.”

Wynwood, the neighborhood Bakehouse Art Complex has called home since opening in 1986, has become a globally renowned arts destination, primarily because of the quality and the quantity of its street and mural art. While many have been replaced or lost to time, Purvis Young’s mural preceded the influx of street art in the area and remains an important record of the neighborhood’s cultural and social history. It not only tells an important story about artmaking in Miami, but it is also a lesson in the importance of recognizing and protecting our local cultural patrimony.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the completion of the conservation of Purvis Young’s mural, which is an important record of the cultural and social history of the Overtown neighborhood,” said Cathy Leff, Executive Director of Bakehouse Art Complex. “We are grateful to Bank of America for their generous support of this project.”

The conservation of the Purvis Young mural is part of Bakehouse Art Complex’s ongoing commitment to preserving and promoting the work of local artists. 

For more information about the celebration and to RSVP, please access this link.