Alphonso Jefferson spearheaded the creation of a mural on the Boys and Girls Club in Broward County to help transform the community. This mural was a great undertaking and partnership.

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A mural by Elio Mercado is unveiled at the
Harold Reitman Boys & Girls Club, along
Broward Boulevard. By Nila Simon.
If These Walls
Could Talk
 Jun 04, 2019  NILA SIMON 
How can paint on four walls influence a
community? If the new mural on the edifice of
the Harold Reitman Boys &
Girls Clubs is any
indication, it can uplift, inspire and better it.P
Formerly a white, largely unmarked building –
save for the signature Boys & Girls Clubs blue
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Artist Elio Mercado with Harold Reitman,
who donated the building.
– the Reitman Club’s facade
is now blanketed
with large-scale images of 12 smiling figures
who’ve come to
represent the more than 500
families a year who seek this Boys & Girls
Clubs location. Wrapped around the building’s
exterior are the painted images
of individuals
from all walks of life – a girl holding a
basketball, a boy
dressed in full cap and gown
ensemble, a girl in a business suit holding a
book
and other inspiring images of health,
happiness and aspirations – serving as
refreshing reminders of the positive impact
that the Boys & Girls Clubs can
have on a
community and its youngest members.
Conceptualized during the summer of 2018,
this public art project came to fruition due the
visionary goals of several entities, including
leaders at the Broward County Cultural
Division, the Cultural Council’s Public Art &
Design Committee, County Commission,
Broward Municipal Services District (BMSD)
and Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County.

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“I just felt that an inspiring mural could
bring
life to this area and communicate what
happens inside this building,”
says Brian Quail,
the president and chief executive officer of the
Boys &
Girls Clubs of Broward County, of the
initial thought behind having a mural on
the
Reitman building, which is one of three Boys &
Girls Clubs-operated
buildings owned by the
County.
Linking both public and private non-profit
organizations together, the mural was a unique
collaboration between several
organizations.
Quail began conversations with Alphonso
Jefferson, the assistant
county administrator at
the BMSD, the government entity that serves
the
more than 15,000 residents of
Unincorporated Broward County, a stretch of
11.4
square miles that the Reitman Club sits
in.
Mural unveiling on April 25, 2019; photos by
Downtown Photo.
Having already incorporated several new art
installations in BMSD’s jurisdiction, Jefferson
didn’t need to be convinced of the power that
public art can have. Last summer, the BMSD

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commissioned artist Ruth Burotte to transform
nearly a dozen metal traffic signal cabinets
from uninspiring metal structures that were
heavily defaced by graffiti to vivid expressions
of the surrounding neighborhood. Today, more
than half a year after Burotte completed her
public arts project, the colorfully painted traffic
boxes remain in near-pristine condition and
largely untouched by graffiti, Jefferson says.
“I saw how art can really change a
community’s
mindset,” Jefferson says. “It’s as
if Ruth’s artwork on these traffic cabinets
have
wordlessly inspired the community to be better
stewards. This shows how
powerful art can be
in not only bringing pride to a community, but
also
inspiring its people to be better.”
To take the next step in creating a mural on
the Reitman Club building, Jefferson and Quail
connected with the Broward
Cultural Division,
the
County’s local arts agency that has
overseen the commissioning of more than 260
public artworks, who held a call to artists to
submit a design for the edifice.
Eventually, a
five-member panel chose the design of South
Florida-based artist
Elio Mercado, aka Evoca1,
to grace the building’s exterior.
Known
for his photorealistic murals that have
appeared from far away as Australia to
as
near as downtown Hollywood, Mercado
wanted the Reitman mural “Untitled” to
be part
of a movement that promoted positive
opportunities and experiences.

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Mural Photo by Downtown Photo
“The mural encompasses the ideology of
the community and the youth who visit
the Boys & Girls Clubs. I wanted the
mural to continue to inspire those visiting
or just passing by, inspiring people to be
more than they can dream up.”
ELIO MERCADO / EVOCA1
If These Walls Could Talk
The Reitman Club, named after prominent
orthopedic surgeon Harold Reitman who
donated the building to the Boys &
Girls Club,
had 502 members walked through its doors
last year. Of those, 99%
qualify for free or
reduced school lunch, 60% have a household
income of
$20,000 or less, and 77% come
from a single-parent home. As Quail puts it,

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Brian Quail, Boys & Girls Clubs CEO and
President with artist Elio Mercado.
the
Boys & Girls Clubs provides vital services
to these at-risk youths. Alumni
include Rep.
Bobby DuBones, Sen. Chris Smith, Rep.
Bobby DuBose, and Rep.
Shevrin Jones, all of
whom have visited local Clubs to inspire
youths.
Through its various academic,
character-
building and healthy lifestyle programming,
Quail says 99% of its
members progressed to
the next grade level last year. Part of that
programming
includes a year-round fine
arts
program, providing members weekly lessons
and activities in drawing,
painting, digital
photography and other media. The results of
the arts program
speak for themselves, with
27 Broward County club members winning
national art
awards.
“The mural is a celebration of art and the
quality of art programming produced inside
this building,” Quail says. “It has, to me,

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became a way for us to say that arts are
important.”
In addition to serving as a visual
representation of the Boys & Girls Club’s
purpose, the mural has enhanced Broward
Boulevard’s streetscapes and aesthetic
appeal. And BMSD has more public art
installations in the works, Jefferson says.
Freestanding sculptures representing the
history, culture and sentiments shared by
BMSD residents and stakeholders will line
Northwest 27th Avenue along the northwest
corner of the green space at the African-
American Research Library and Cultural
Center.
“We’ve seen that art can uplift a community,”
Jefferson says. “And projects like Elio
Mercado’s mural at the Reitman building and
the upcoming one on Northwest 27th Avenue
can help be a driving force to it.”

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