Art Bell - Miami Circle Photos

Here's the story as I saw it. Below you will find an achived page from the Art Bell Show website that feature my pictures along with some great ones by Jaime-Andrea Yanak.

Early in 1999 a huge effort in the Miami community arose to stop the construction of a 600 unit luxury waterfront rental condominium in the heart of Miami's downtown Brickell business district at the mouth of the Miami River. After raising an old apartment complex that had sat on the land for decades, the remnants of an ancient stone circle were uncovered. As the plans for construction of the condo were slated to begin, archeologists were given time to excavate and log artifacts found within the property. During that time and largely through the publicity generated by the international late night radio talk show host Art Bell, a huge hue and cry was raised over the saving of the Circle.This led to the acquisition of the land through a dramatic eminent domain suit brought by the county.

I shot the people and events daily and the images were uploaded to Keith Rowland, Art Bell's web master. He in turn posted the images you see below, nightly, so that listeners could follow the story as it unfolded. I have archived the photos here so that the time line of that critical month can be seen as it took place.

The effort to save the Circle was to be the largest unified community/international event I had witnessed in decades of living in this city. An amazingly diverse group of individuals including archeologists, community heritage interests, shamans, city planners, archeo-astronomers, diviners, nature lovers, new agers, cub scouts, elementary school students, native Americans and other representatives of indigenous cultures convened on the perimeter of the property and city hall, protested and held vigils as well till the ancient site was secured from the mauling of development . This was the single most effective community and global awareness grassroots campaign I have seen yet enabled by the world wide web.

In addition to the photographs, we set up the briefly famous Miami Circle-Cam, with the help of Hector Lopez, David Haylock of Vision Earth , Richard Hoagland, Fredrick Schreyer, who provided the fantastic office overlook. This was a live camera mounted in an office overlooking the Miami Circle which was streamed live on the internet from EnterpriseMission.com during the period in which a hare brained concept to "remove" the Circle with backhoes and move it to another location was actually being considered so that the condo construction could begin. Effectually, the whole world could stand cyber-vigil and survail the property should the buldozers be started up . Other fine photos by Jamie-Andrea Yanak appear on this page showing the departure of the bulldozer and other scenarios as well.

Miami Circle

Click on Descriptions Below to See Photos

Batch of Photos Listed Latest First

2/19/99 -- Friday Photos & Report from Mark Diamond

2/18/99 -- Thursday Photos from Mark Diamond

2/17/99 -- Wednesday Photos from Mark Diamond

2/16/99 -- Tuesday Photos from Mark Diamond

2/15/99 -- Monday Photos from Mark Diamond

2/15/99 -- Monday Photos from Jamie-Andrea Yanak

2/14/99 -- Latest Photos from the Circle

The Bulldozer is in Position!

Eve Smith writes: "The situation down here does not look good. Have received word from various extremely reliable sources that we're in for a dramatic experience if that backhoe / frontloader gets cranked up. People are forcasting violent scenerios. I am urging everyone to fax, email and call Governor Jeb Bush. We really feel he's our best bet at this point."

2/12/99 -- Mark Diamond photos of meeting

2/10/99 -- Mark Diamond photos of meetings

Mark Diamond writes: The hall was not big enough to hold the assembled crowd of hundreds that showed up to hear Bob Carr detail his findings at the Miami Circle site. People spilled out the doors trying to catch a glimpse and hear his lecture. At the end of the lecture too many people had questions and comments for the time allotted for. Reactions were varied. One gentleman who suggested that not unlike Tienamen Square demonstrations, that a non-violent protest be staged, even if people had to chain themselves to bull dozers. Another introduced himself as an attorney for international law, and hinted that a pact existed to save sacred sites of indiginous peoples,signed by the United States and other nations, might be called upon to help intervene in the demolition or removeal of the Miami Circle.

2/9/99 -- Candle Light Vigil Photos from Mark Diamond

2/9/99 -- Michael & Holly Welsh send us these.

2/8/99 -- Photos from Mark Diamond

Here are the media trucks on site.
Miami Circle Task Force.
Robert Ghostwolf addresses the Task Force.
Gita, born in Mexico, is currently a Mayan healer and wisdom keeper trained by Mayan shaman don Jacinto. Gita came to the site because of a vision she received during a healing ceremony in California. After hearing news about the Miami circle two weeks later, she was moved to visit the site where she realized this was the circle she had seen in her vision.
Here we see Gita performing ceremony and prayer at the site for those who gathered. She prayed for enlightenment, compassion and gratitude for the preservation of what she felt was a sacred site.
Jim Adams from the National Park Service
Jim at the Dade Heritage Trust where a meeting of the Save Our Circle Task Force took place to determine how to save the archeological site.
A new additional fence was put up outside the old fence!

2/3/99 -- Photos from Mark Diamond

2/3/99 -- Jamie-Andrea Yanak provides more high-quality photos.

2/1/99 -- Photos from Mark Diamond

The hand has a turtle and shark vertebrae found at the site.

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