Geograph - photograph every grid square

This mosaic mural of J F Kennedy, President of the United States of America from 1961 until his assassination in 1963, was designed by Kenneth Budd. It has stood at the corner of Digbeth and Floodgate Street in central Birmingham since 2013.

The original mural was made in 1968 and was a gift to Birmingham by the Irish community of the city, remembering the first man of Irish Catholic heritage to become US President. It was located on the ring road by St Chad's, the Catholic Cathedral (where it can be seen on this photo on Flickr Link ). The rebuilding of this junction in 2007 led to the destruction of the mural (note how easily public art is damaged or destroyed - see for example SP3379 : Medieval map of Coventry).

The new version was overseen by Budd's son Oliver, who worked from his late father's designs. He had salvaged parts of the original mural, but these had faded and were not reused here. A new face was added at the bottom right, that of Mike Nangle, the first Irish Lord Mayor of Birmingham. Depicted in a more realistic style, he looks oddly out of place, a diminutive Irish Brit gazing at these stereotypically larger-than-life Americans, with their wide eyes and pearly-white teeth. See Wikipedia on the mural and its history Link .