J. F. Kennedy Memorial (Birmingham, England)

Commissioned by the Irish community of Birmingham, this mosaic mural by artist Kenneth Budd was originally erected on St. Chad's Circus nearby Birmingham's Roman Catholic St. Chad's Cathedral in July 1968. The cost of the creation of this mosaic mural came to £5000.

Since the road system was redeveloped in 2007, the mosaic was demolished with various pieces of it remaining in satisfactory condition that were recovered by Kenneth Budd's son, Oliver.

It was then recreated in 2012 using brand new Smalti mosaic tiles, disregarding the original tiles from before as their colours were faded in contrast to the new vibrant tiles.
Smalti are hand cut opaque glass tiles used in richly-coloured mosaics that were used in the times of Renaissance Italy and the Byzantine Empire.
The memorial is situated within the Irish Quarter of Birmingham in Digbeth, adjacent to the High Street Deritend so it catches the attention of drivers on the main road as well as people walking up and down Floodgate Street.

What I propose to do in response to this mosaic, is to create a piece to go on the wall underneath the current memorial. The piece will be a display of the Irish workers who put their dedication down for the city of Birmingham and its economy. The illustration will be made of a material more familiar to Irish workers in Birmingham to emphasise on the context more.





Image Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._F._Kennedy_Memorial,_Birmingham#mediaviewer/File:JFK_mural.JPG