MIAMI — An affordable housing developer and an agency that works with inner-city children teamed up three years ago on a project to bring art in public places to Little Haiti Soccer Park. On Sunday afternoon, murals that adorn the walls surrounding the venue were dedicated, just in time for Haiti Mother’s Day.

Pinnacle Housing Group, one of the nation’s leading affordable housing developers, and local non-profit Moving Lives of Kids in December 2012 for a plan to beautify the cavernous soccer park, 6301 NE Second Ave. The idea was to put murals along the park walls.

MLK, a charitable organization that focuses on the arts, youth development and education and several local painters including Haitian artist and Miami native Axel Void and Kyle Holbrook joined forces with the community’s kids to paint giant murals at the park.

Now, more than two years later and just in time for Haitian Mother’s Day, the project is finally finished. More than 200 people arrived for the Art in the Park dedication. Along with officials from the two companies, were city and county leaders including Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jean Monestime, Miami-Dade
Commissioner Audrey
Edmonson and Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon. Also at the park were some of the children who worked on the project.

Public art is a trademark of Pinnacle developments. The company Pinnacle incorporates public art in each of its communities because art gives residents and neighbors a sense of pride.

Louis Wolfson III, a founding partner at Pinnacle Housing Group who also heads up the firm’s “art in public places” program, said the soccer park project marks the first for his company outside of a development. He believes the murals will be a draw for residents, and gain interest of others.

“This is to bring attention to Little Haiti,” Wolfson said. “We think it could be a tourist destination” that could bring additional customers into the neighborhood to help local businesses.

The project has been done in stages. The first phase had students from Moving Lives of Kids and those who live in Pinnacle properties working alongside professional artists. Wolfson said professionals solely handled the work in the just-completed second phase.

He suggested that more murals are coming.

“We believe we’ll have 35 to 45 murals. It’s such a large area that has so many walls to be painted.”