Serge Toussaint is an artist and

muralist A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

. He was born in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, grew up in Carrefour, Haiti until the age of 12. He moved to

Corona, Queens Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with his father. Here he went to high school and graduated with his high school diploma. He worked in New York for some time working often on his own artwork and earning a wage from jobs such as being a busboy at

Sizzler Sizzler USA Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Sizzler, is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Mission Viejo, California, with locations mainly in California, plus some in the nearby states of Washington, Arizona, Neva ...

. He and his family took a vacation to Florida one winter and it was during this vacation he decided to stay in Miami and work on his career as an artist. Serge currently resides (2010) in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and states he is unsure how many signs and murals he has done although it is surely in the hundreds if not the thousands. He claims he was an artist at age 12 and the only lessons in art he had were during his required art class in high school. Serge Toussaint has four children. His mother died in 2009. Serge states that he had a past of doing things wrong, however he states he is now married and spends his time painting and enjoys spending his time doing rara lakay. Serge has been painting in Miami for decades but the 2008 Obama Presidential election brought attention to his work. Serge paints large

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s (larger than 5x5). During the 2008 presidential election Serge painted several murals of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in the

Little Haiti Little Haiti (french: La Petite Haïti, ht, Ti Ayiti), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the ...

and Liberty City areas of Miami-Dade Florida. His murals are easily recognized because he signs his name to each mural. His signature most often reads Serge with the S being a

dollar sign The dollar sign, also known as peso sign, is a symbol consisting of a capital " S" crossed with one or two vertical strokes ($ or ), used to indicate the unit of various currencies around the world, including most currencies denominated "pes ...

. News reports covered Serge because one of his murals was commissioned through a state agency. This particular mural was painted under interstate

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

and Serge painted

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

alongside Obama. According to Serge he was asked to remove the Obama portion of the mural due to government monies not being allocated for

political endorsement A political endorsement is a public declaration of one's personal or group's support of a candidate for elected office An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with ...

purposes. Serge complied, and the news outlets covered the story. Serge is best known for his signature mural of the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

where he worked for just over two years and received $546,000. Since the 2008 presidential election has subsided, Serge still continues to paint notable figures and make signs for Miami-Dade neighborhoods. Serge states he loves living in Miami and is grateful to have a community of

Haitians Haitians ( French: , ht, Ayisyen) are the citizens of Haiti and the descendants in the diaspora through direct parentage. An ethnonational group, Haitians generally comprise the modern descendants of self-liberated Africans in the Caribbean te ...

to whom he easily relates. Serge has stated that he recognizes many of the problems of

(pre- 2010 earthquake) and states the government is largely to blame, but he is not political and only wishes that there is more equality between the very wealthy of Haiti and the very poor of Haiti.

References

*Video taped interview with Serge Toussaint 2009/2010 by Rachel Goldberg

External links

*Foxnews.com- Artist Forced to Paint Over Painting of Barack Obama: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346769,00.html *Associated Press listed on yahoo and abcNews- Miami Offers a Taste of Haiti, No Passport Needed – Murals, Voodoo-inspired designs, griot, compas music point the way to Haiti in Miami: https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20091221/ap_tr_ge/us_travel_trip_haitian_miami *Miami New Times- The Mural King ex-graffiti bomber Serge Touissant has Miami covered: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-02-19/news/ex-graffiti-bomber-serge-touissant-has-miami-covered/ *Miami New Times- Best of 2010 South Fla. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/bestof/2010/award/best-street-art-2305385/ *WLRN Under the sun program http://wlrnunderthesun.org/2011/09/muralist-makes-his-mark-in-little-haiti/ *WPLG Channel 10- Artist Honors President-Elect POSTED: Thursday, January 15, 2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20090118100311/http://www.justnews.com/news/18486019/detail.html *Ocean Drive Magazine original link disabled, currently Gotham- Rediscovering Little Haiti *From culinary treasures to cultural showplaces, Miami's Haitian enclave creates its own rhythm of life. BY TOM AUSTIN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARC RICHARDS TOUSIGNANT: https://web.archive.org/web/20100711065431/http://www.oceandrive.com/culture_0610_article1.html *Book: Miami Muralist Serge Toussaint, ** http://www.millenniumbeat.com/2009/04/22/haitians-in-miami-embrace-obama-administration-with-high-expectations/ ** http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2010/08/street_art_in_little_haiti_ser.php ** http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1998-07-16/news/the-people-s-gallery/2/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Toussaint, Serge Living people American muralists Haitian artists Artists from Miami Haitian emigrants to the United States Year of birth missing (living people)