The J. F. Kennedy Memorial in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, is a memorial

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, 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'' ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, by

Kenneth Budd Kenneth George Budd (16 October 1925 – 21 January 1995) was an English mural artist, known for his mosaics and work in other materials. His company, Kenneth Budd and Associates was based in Penge, south London. Budd was born in Fulham, L ...

. The mosaic, commissioned by Birmingham's Irish community and unveiled in 1968, and funded by public subscription, was constructed in panels, at Budd's company in south London, Kenneth Budd and Associates. It was dismantled in 2007 and remade, with alterations, in 2012, by the artist's son, for erection at a new site.

Original location

The mosaic was erected on St Chad's Circus (at approx ), outside the City's Roman Catholic St Chad's Cathedral, in July 1968, at a cost of £5,000. When the road system was redeveloped in 2007 the mosaic was demolished. Key features, including the heads of some of the main figures, were retrieved and retained by Kenneth Budd's son Oliver.

Re-creation

In 2012 it was re-created using new materials. The new mosaic was erected in January 2013, in the city's Irish Quarter, on Floodgate Street in

Digbeth Digbeth is an area of central Birmingham, England. Following the remodelling of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is under ...

, in reworked form, including the controversial addition of a new face, that of former

Lord Mayor of Birmingham Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Mike Nangle, the city's first Irish Lord Mayor. The work was overseen by Budd's son, Oliver, who worked from his father's original drawings. The retained sections were not used as the colours had faded and would not match the new Smalti mosaic tiles. A formal unveiling took place on 23 February 2013.

Composition

Featured alongside Kennedy in the mosaic are his brother Ted, the

seal of the president of the United States The seal of the president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the president of the United States to the United States Congress, U.S. Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency itself. The central design, based ...

(using real gold),

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, American policemen, and other figures.

Text

The text gives an incorrect date of 1960, the year he was elected, for the start of his presidency, when he was actually president from January 1961. This inaccuracy was also present in the original creation. The original mosaic had wording at either side. The wording on the right said (all in upper case): There are no white or coloured signs on the grave- yards of battle The recreated mosaic has different words. On the left (again, all in upper case): In tribute to John F Kennedy President of the United States 1960-3 and to the right: A man may die nations may rise and fall but an idea lives on

References

External links

1968 Pathe newsreel of the mosaic under construction
{{Public art in Birmingham Public art in England