Old Shoes, (sculpture).

Old Shoes, (sculpture).

Lombana, Hector, sculptor.

Old Shoes, (sculpture).

Giant (Old) Shoes Monument, (sculpture).

Oct. 12, 1976. Dedicated Aug. 1979. Destroyed Aug. 1992. Rebuilt 1993. Rededicated Dec. 14, 1993.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: gunite; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 4 ft. x 30 in. x 7 ft. 6 in.; Base: approx. 27 in. x 8 ft. x 8 ft. (1,400 lbs.).

(On left shoe:) Hector Lombrana (sic) (Poem "A Mi Ciudad Nativa" is incised on base in Spanish) (Dedication plaque is on base in Spanish, raised letters) (English dedication plaque on base, raised letters:) ON OCTOBER 12, 1979/UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR JIMMY DUNN/THIS MONUMENT WAS PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF/CORAL GABLES, THROUGH THE PEOPLE TO PEOPLE/PROGRAM BY FERNANDO URREGO E. AND THE/SCULPTOR HECTOR LOMBRANA (SIC), AS A TRIBUTE TO/THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE SISTER CITIES OF/CORAL GABLES AND CARTAGENA DE INDIAS. signed

A large pair of shoes, one upright and the other on its side.

Dress -- Accessory -- Shoe

Literature -- Lopez

Homage -- Lopez, Luis Carlos

Allegory -- Place -- Cartagena

Outdoor Sculpture -- Florida -- Coral Gables

Administered by City of Coral Gables, Public Works Department, Architectural Division, 285 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33134

Located Cartagena Circle, Old Cutler Road & Lejeune Road, Coral Gables, Florida

The sculpture is a replica on a reduced scale of a sculpture made in 1956 in Cartagena, Colombia, sister city of Coral Gables. The sculptor, Hector Lonbana, made both the original and the replica in honor of the Colombian poet Luis Carlos Lopez. The inspiration for the sculpture came from a poem by Lopez, "To My Native City" ("A Mi Ciudad Nativa"). The Cartagena and Colombian communities in Coral Gables and the Greater Miami area donated the sculpture, which was presented through the People to People Program. The Miami-Colombian Lions Club and Forum Latino Americano also helped pay the sculptor's costs. The sculpture was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in August of 1992, but was restored through the efforts of the City of Coral Gables and many of its residents. Plaques have been stolen from the work at least twice. IAS files contain copies of articles from the Miami News, Aug. 7, 1979; the Miami Review, Jan. 3, 1984; and the Miami Herald, July 19, 1990. IAS files also contain the text of the poem by Lopez in both English and Spanish; a rededication pamphlet, and related information. On Jan. 29, 2010, the sculpture was severly damaged/destroyed by an automobile.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Florida, Miami survey, 1994.

Metro-Dade Center, Art in Public Places, 1988.

Metro-Dade Center, Art in Public Places, "Monuments in Dade County," Nancy Block, 1988.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System