Artwork Glory and Defeat stars at Lauderhill Central Park Library grand opening

Artwork Glory and Defeat stars at Lauderhill Central Park Library grand opening

Broward County Commissioner District 9 Dale V. C Holness, Broward County Public Art & Design Administrator Leslie Fordham and Artist Ruben Ubiera.

Parkway Middle School of the Arts’ World Music Drumming.

By Meredith Clements

BROWARD COUNTY, FL – The new Lauderhill Central Park Library grand opening took place this month reflecting a collaboration of County and City partnerships, the arts, sports and learning.

Featured at the opening was a mixed-medium mural, Glory and Defeat, by Broward-based artist Ruben Ubiera.

For the artist, Glory and De-feat is a marriage between sports and libraries in that people who play sports usually don’t find themselves in libraries and vice versa. The artwork represented for him, two ladies: Lady Glory and Lady Defeat, speaking to the un-spoken rule in sports where many times, someone wins and someone must lose.

Ubiera also intended the artwork to represent the City of Lauderhill’s green areas, gold sunsets, and warmth of the city, as well as their history through newspaper clippings, with the goal of encouraging community pride.

“This is a daring selection by the Artist Selection Panel,” said Broward Cultural Division’s Public Art & Design Administrator Leslie Fordham. “They took a leap of faith in a conceptual design and supported it through research and questions, in order have the artist bring the artwork to life.”

Fordham feels the artwork represents what is important a-bout public art, in that Ubiera was able to improve the artwork through feedback from the community and governing agencies, while at the same time maintain his artistic integrity through organic origami, sporting figures and “even ballerinas,” said Fordham.

The Broward County Board of County Commissioners and City of Lauderhill partnership project grand opening was attended by members of the public and Broward County Commissioner District 9 Dale V.C. Holness; Mayor City of Lauderhill Richard Kaplan; Acting Director Broward County Libraries Laura Connors; past Director Broward County Libraries Sam Morrison; Parks and Recreation Division Director Dan West; Assistant Director Construction Management Division Jeff Thompson; Broward County Public Art & Design staff; and many library staff, Friends of the Library and the Library Advisory Board.