OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A new mural was unveiled in downtown Kissimmee that highlights Puerto Rican heritage and Bomba music.
Artist Edwin Sepúlveda, known as Don Rimx, is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Throughout his entire art career, he said preserving culture and tradition through his art has been one of his main focal points.
“I’ve been putting together some ideas to represent more deeply in how our culture or our African Caribbean heritage influenced us,” Don Rimx said. “For me, it’s important to go back to the motherland in order to taste the reality of that continent.”
He’s taken trips personally to visit portions of Africa and traces its influence back to his own upbringing in San Juan.
His new mural, “United in Rhythm,” paints a picture of what Bomba music creates from one generation to the next. In it, he shows La Mascara de Vejigante acting as the sun, the Cepada family, who are known for bringing Bomba y Plena music to life, instruments, movement, and more.
“I’m just making an illustration of what’s happening in real life. Like all these people, they’ve been working really hard in order to keep this culture alive and is something that we have to really be proud of,” he said.
Don Rimx continued, “Since the youngest to the oldest, it’s like a drum circle that is made of all the community and how the community got together and how the community brings all the spirituality, all this respect for the culture and all that happened when we (are) playing and we (are) sharing and we (are) connecting to each other.”
The “United in Rhythm” mural in downtown Kissimmee. (Spectrum News/Jordan Mead)
He shared that the influence of Afro-Caribbean rhythms like Bomba has made an impact on his own life personally. Don Rimx said he hopes his new mural brings this to life for both Puerto Ricans living in Central Florida and he said he hopes people with other cultures and backgrounds can learn from his work.
“So Kissimmee is a pot of culture. We live together, sharing culture with a lot of other Latin people. They got influenced through the African heritage,” Don Rimx said. “So, for me, doing this piece in Kissimmee is really important because it’s a reflection of ourselves.”
“United in Rhythm” is one of 30 murals that’s part of Osceola Art’s ARTisNOW Public Murals Project. Several projects, including one by artist Nico, are still ongoing.
Brian Camacho is the Public Arts Coordinator for Osceola Arts.
“This mural means a lot to the program for Osceola Arts and ARTisNOW program as it brings together unity and diversity within our community. That’s our commitment. Working with these artists is giving them an opportunity to be able to showcase themselves and also be able to be heard through their artwork,” he said.
The “United in Rhythm” mural officially unveiled to the public on Saturday outside of The Vault in downtown Kissimmee.
Camacho said, “For me, it means a lot as well. Being a Puerto Rican, being able to see our culture represented well and being able to see how we can be able to expand given these opportunities to be able to showcase the message on all levels.”
He added, “Osceola Arts remains committed to bringing arts opportunities to the local artists within our city to be able to have a voice, to be able to showcase themselves and represent the diverse community that we have here within the city of Kissimmee.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source mynews13.com ’
