Freedom Tower - New World Mural

During a restoration of the Freedom Tower in 1987, a group called the Miami Artisans decided to recreate the New World Mural. The lost 1925 version was faithfully reconstructed from old black and white photos. Remnants of it where discovered behind temporary panels by the commissioning Architect R. Heisenbottle in 1987.

The mural design was originally commissioned by the Tower's developer, James Middleton Cox in 1925, with the expressed intention to celebrate Ponce de Leon's discovery and naming of Biscayne Bay and Tequesta Miami Mound town. The original tapestry had decayed over the course of the century. Due to the Freedom Tower's long-time closing from 1974 to 1987, this beautiful symbol of the meeting of the Old World and the New World fell in disrepair and remained unknown to most Miamians.

The New World 1513 mural’s poem was composed by poet laureate Edwin Markham in 1925. It celebrates the naming and discovery of the Florida territory by Juan Ponce De Leon in 1513.

​The New World mural is included in the National Registry of Public Fine Art and today serves as a backdrop for many important ceremonies and events that Miami Dade College hosts in the Freedom Tower's Ballroom