A new mural featuring music icons and Grammy Award winners Gloria and Emilio Estefan was unveiled at a ceremony this past Saturday (January 22) in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
“Gracias Miami!!!” Gloria Estefan wrote on Instagram. “Amazing Mural!!! We are so happy to be part of this ‘Latin Music Art’ Series as a concerted effort in beautification of Miami’s overlooked neighborhoods!!!”
Their son, Nayib Estefan, attended the event along with city officials. “My parents have always been this big to me, but it’s amazing to see them preserved in one of their finest moments in the 80s in Miami,” Nayib Estefan told Miami’s NBC affiliate WTVJ.
The mural was painted by Miami-based artist Disem, who thanked the Estefans for their “talent, art and creativity” and for everything they’ve done for the community.
“You’ve paved the way for Latin artist and creatives across the world and put #Miami on the map from day 1,” Disem wrote. “You’re a huge inspiration to me. I hope I did you guys justice through this piece.”
Disem said that he remembers being four years old when he first heard a cassette tape of the Estefans’ original band, Miami Sound Machine. “My father was playing it as he washed his car and I remember asking, ‘What is that?’ and him telling me ‘Miami Sound Machine,’”
Disem wrote on Instagram. “To be able to create this piece has been very special to me. You can’t get any more Miami than Gloria and Emilio in the 80s.”
The mural was made possible by the Kcull Life Foundation, which is partnering with Miami artists to improve historic neighborhoods and preserve Cuban American culture. It now lives on a wall of La Casa de los Trucos, a well-known costume shop in the area.