Haines City grows new wings: Mural project continues with music-themed artwork

Haines City is ready to continue its ascent.

The city recently unveiled the latest addition to its project of public murals depicting wings, this one with a theatrical and musical theme. The mural, painted on an outer wall of a city building that houses the Haines City Community Theatre, depicts a pair of disembodied wings that incorporate the masks of tragedy and comedy, along with musical clefs and piano keys.

The city commissioned Elizabeth Gamez Bautista, a Haines City native, to paint the mural, titled “Phantom of the Theater.”

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The image is the ninth in a series of murals, continuing a project that began in 2019. Jane Waters Murphy, director of Haines City’s Community Redevelopment Agency, has been the guiding force behind the project.

“The goal was to have another set of wings, but this time to celebrate performing arts and really begin to speak life into the importance of theatre and music,” Murphy said of the new mural. “And so, I thought, let's use wings and really lock ourselves back into the original project and continue to move this cultural movement through that tool.”

Haines City is providing an incentive for residents and visitors to check out the new mural at 303 Ledwith Ave. and its eight predecessors. The city is offering the chance to win $500 by encouraging people to take selfies in front of the wings murals and tag Haines City in posts on Facebook and to like the city’s Facebook page.

The CRA staff will hold a live drawing on the city’s Facebook page on Jan. 6 to determine the winner of the prize.

Murphy said that Haines City had no tradition of public murals before she began working as a consultant to the city in 2018. She learned about the Global Angel Wings Project, an initiative of Los Angeles-based artist Colette Miller, who has painted wings-themed murals nationwide and in such countries as Kenya, France and Mexico.

Murphy said she took a chance and called the artist’s office and was surprised when Miller herself answered. Murphy explained that Haines City wanted to create unity among residents by creating art in the historic downtown and in distressed areas.

“And when I spoke with her about why I was doing the project, she said, ‘I would love to come and paint my wings,’ ”Murphy said. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have no budget for that,’ but she basically donated her time for the cost of travel. It was a very impressive contribution and added just so much to the importance of what we're doing.”

Miller painted that initial mural, titled “Sun Wings,” on a city-owned building at 555 Ledwith Ave.

Murphy then commissioned seven other murals before the latest one, most of them painted by artists from Polk County. Gamez Bautista created a previous mural, “Flight,” a set of orange-and-black butterfly wings on a building at 801 Ingraham Ave.

Haines City artist Enos Torres painted a mural at the Oakland Neighborhood Center, and Orlando artist Katrina FacePaint made one at the Haines City Boys & Girls Club, also in the predominantly Black community of Oakland.

Murphy said she wanted the project to draw residents and visitors to areas of Haines City where they might not otherwise venture.

“And I was very intentional in the selection of artists,” she said. “For each of these wings, they were individuals that either worked within similar communities and understood the culture, or were from a community themselves and part of the culture. And it really added to sort of the vibrancy of what happened.”

Murphy said she hopes to have one mural added each year until the total reaches 12. She said art is an important element of community revitalization, the mission of the city agency she leads.

“I think it’s multifold for me,” she said. “I want people to get excited about art in public places.”

“I definitely want to see this become the newest addition to an interactive art project — right? — because you can take your picture with it, you can be a part of the art," Murphy added. "And being part of the art is very important. And then the third is to continue that revitalization component of what the CRA is in redevelopment, to ignite change and creativity in the same locations.”

Photos of Haines City’s wings murals appear on the website of Visit Florida, the state’s official agency for tourism promotion.

The law firm of Abercrombie, P.A. is sponsoring the mural campaign.

“We were honored to be asked to participate,” Jay Abercrombie, an attorney with the firm, said in a news release. “It’s a blessing to give back to the community and support revitalization.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Haines City grows new wings: Local artist continues mural project