José Rodeiro TAMPA THE CRADLE OF CUBAN INDEPENDENCE, enamel-on-mdo, 40’ x 20,’ 1990 (Property of the City of Tampa).

Similar to Lincoln Borglum’s atemporal, simultaneous, and Amnesis depiction of four US presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln) chatting on Mount Rushmore (South Dakota), in West Tampa’s McFarlane Park, José Rodeiro attempted (using his imagination and “artistic-license”) to create a mural examining key heroes of Cuba’s War for Independence (Spanish American War). In this mural, Rodeiro painted historic individuals who had strong affinities or historic connection(s) with the Tampa Bay Area. Thus, Rodeiro’s grand manner mural presents: José Martí (the poet liberator of Cuba); Antonio Maceo (the brilliant guerrilla-fighter: “The Bronze Titan”); and Teddy Roosevelt (leader of the “Rough Riders”) and other heroes, who are all atemporally, simultaneously, and Amnesisly charging across a stretch of Cuban beach ardently attacking Spanish imperial forces. This imaginative West Tampa fabulation is an endeavor (by Rodeiro) to create a 2-D Mount Rushmore, which frankly and honestly places Tampa (Florida) at the inception of Cuba’s late-19th Century (fin de’siécle) liberation. (Photographs provided by Dr. Philip Allen and Ms Susan Allen, the photographer).