MDC Professor Creates Mural That Features Three Florida Birds On Endangered Species List

Kendall Campus art professor Jennifer Basile is attracting attention to the plight of three endangered Florida native birds by creating a mural that features them at the Brickell Metrorail Station.

The artwork, part of The Underline project—an effort to transform the 120 acres below Miami’s Metrorail into a 10-mile linear park—was created in June by Basile and two of her former students, Diego Franco and Changlin Liu.

“What I wanted to do is bring nature into the train station and especially in the Brickell area. Miami is growing very rapidly and we are losing natural spaces,” Basile said. “I’ve lived here for a very long time, so I’ve seen the physical changes to our landscapes and I’m very concerned about how we are affecting our ecosystems.” 

The mural, which has a Tiffany blue background to portray the sea-level rise and the luxurious atmosphere Brickell has become, features wood storks, roseate spoonbills and roseate terns. It includes fragments of broken pieces of staghorn coral to create movement for the piece.

“She calls attention to the wildlife surrounding us,” said Kendall Campus art professor Christina Pappas, who helped Basile in the planning process for the project by designing the files and cutting out the stencils. “She uses animals that are easily recognizable, even if you don’t understand what the piece is saying you can appreciate the beautiful silhouettes. It might [also] plant a seed in your mind to appreciate them more which could lead to you thinking about how your actions affect them and the planet you live on.” 

Franco and Liu helped paint the vinyl stickers used throughout the installation. 

“Creating this mural meant learning beyond the classroom,” said Liu, who took figure drawing and printmaking with Basile and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in animation at the University of Central Florida. “I hope the mural brings this city and the people living in it a little more color and also awareness of what’s happening around us because they always seem so busy.”

Franco, an animation student at Kendall Campus, has taken color composition, figure drawing, printmaking and painting with Basile. 

“I took this as a learning opportunity. College students don’t really get offered opportunities like this every day,” said Franco, who is scheduled to graduate from Miami Dade College this fall with an associate’s degree in animation. “I was trusted and challenged to provide my creativity for a public piece while also learning from professor Basile.”

Basile, an art professor at MDC since 2002, was attracted to the project by her love for the environment. 

She has volunteered for clean-ups on Key Biscayne and the Deering Estate and has assisted with a coral reef restoration project between the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

In addition, her artwork featuring various National and State Parks is showcased at the LnS Gallery, 2610 S.W. 28th Lane. 

“I enjoy bringing art to the community and having others have conversations amongst themselves about what they are seeing,” Basile said.