Visitors strolling through the Botanical Garden at the Miramar Cultural Center can now point their phones at murals of Michael Jackson, Celia Cruz and other cultural icons and watch the artwork move. The city announced Tuesday that its “Windows to Our World” outdoor mural exhibit has been outfitted with augmented reality, letting guests scan QR codes to see elements of each painting animate on screen.
According to #WeareMiramar
, the city's official account, visitors simply scan the code on each mural to watch the artwork come to life and learn the stories, information and artistry behind each piece. The post describes the Miramar Cultural Center as a place where community and culture converge, now offering a new way to explore art through the technology.
The AR layer was built through a partnership between the city and Wolfgan Media LLC, which developed the animations that let tropical flora and painted figures move through a visitor's mobile camera once the QR code is scanned, according to Open Publica. The four murals currently on display were created by South Florida-based painter Yanel Hernandez Prieto, a Cuban-born muralist who serves as artist-in-residence with American Landmark Apartments at nearby Mosaic at Miramar, Multifamily Press reports.
Four Icons, Four Themes
This year's rotation of the exhibition, running for the 2026–2027 cycle, celebrates Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce under a Caribbean Heritage theme, Cuban singer Celia Cruz representing Hispanic Heritage, chef José Andrés for Environment and Humanitarianism, and pop musician Michael Jackson for Black History, according to the Miramar Cultural Center. The murals are painted onto the outdoor cathedral arches and architectural alcoves of the Cultural Center building itself, which the venue uses as an annually rotating canvas for local artists.
The Miramar Cultural Center | ArtsPark, located at 2400 Civic Center Place, opened in 2008 and includes an 800-seat theater, the Ansin Family Art Gallery, a botanical garden, and banquet facilities next to City Hall, per the National Civic League. The 2024–2025 edition of “Windows to Our World” marked the center's 16th anniversary with a “Sweet 16” theme, hiding the number 2008 within each mural for visitors to find, the center notes. The AR rollout fits into Miramar's broader Art in Public Places initiative, which also covers wrapped traffic signal boxes, student art contests and public installations citywide.
Mayor's Economic Update Looms
The mural announcement lands just over a week before Mayor Wayne Messam's State of the City Address, scheduled for Thursday, October 29, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Universal Technical Institute, 2601 SW 145th Ave in Miramar. The event is presented by Messam and will feature Vice Mayor Carson “Eddy” Edwards along with Commissioners Yvette Colbourne, Maxwell B. Chambers and Avril Cherasard. Residents can register at miramarsotc.eventbrite.com.
At the address, Messam is expected to present municipal economic updates, including progress on The Cove master-planned development, according to Sun State News. That 125-acre mixed-use project, which broke ground in May, centers on a man-made 5.5-acre swimming lagoon and is set to include nearly 3,000 residential units alongside retail, office space and a hotel, as Hoodline previously reported.
The venue hosting the address has its own growth story. Universal Technical Institute's Miramar campus expanded its skilled-trades offerings in February 2024 when the FAA approved its 18-month Airframe and Powerplant aviation mechanic technician program, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. The pairing of a technical-training campus with the mayor's economic address underscores how the city is framing its growth across both workforce development and large-scale real estate projects this fall.
