Patchworks

Juana Valdés’s tile mural, Patchworks (2024), brings together original and archival footage in a vibrant collage capturing Homestead’s local history, daily life, and cultural heritage. Valdés’s work reflects the rich diversity of nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures that make up the fabric of Homestead. 

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To create the collage, the artist combined original photographs with historical aerial images of Homestead commissioned by the WPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, portraying the city’s evolution from the 1930s to the 1980s. Collaborating with the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) George A. Smathers Libraries, Valdés reprinted the archival negatives from the WPA aerial surveys as blue cyanotypes. By transforming the black and white aerial photographs into a polychromatic patchwork, the artist memorializes the evolving landscape, inviting viewers to reflect on its past, present, and future.

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