The Black Lives Matter street mural in Seattle, Washington, is located near the town's city hall on East Pine Street, between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue. This mural was originally created in June of 2020 during the occupation of Capitol Hill by protesters in the area, which is referred to as either Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) or Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).
Takiyah Ward and Joe Nix communicated and worked with 16 other Seattle artists of Black and indigenous descent to create this mural. Each artist worked on a single letter to spell out "Black Lives Matter" on the street.
List of the name of each artist involved, in the same order as the letters: Kimisha Turner, Perry Porter, Angelina Villalobos, Perri Rhoden, ARI Glass, Cody Kalani, Teddy Phillips, Aramis O. Hamer, Barry Johnson, San Sneke, Moses Sun, Brandon Thomas, Takiyah Ward, Future Crystals, and AFROSPK.
Many of these artists who were originally involved in the creation of the mural formed Vivid Matter Collective. Today, the mural is maintained by that same group of artists and the Seattle Department of Transportation. The group met with the City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture to ensure that this mural would become a part of the community permanently. The mural was created in late June of 2020, but by late September the letters were already chipping and/or fading, so there was concern over what would be done to make sure that this mural wouldn't be lost for good. Before this mural became permanent the letters were all the same white color, but after the letters were etched into the street, the mural became more personalized and colorful. To the Vivid Matter Collective, as well as many others who live in Seattle, the act of etching these letters into the road is of huge significance. However, Takiyah Ward made it clear that "...etching the phrase into concrete is one step in a long journey the city needs to take toward racial justice."
Researched by the Urban Art Mapping Team
Sources:
Browning, Paige. "Made in the CHOP, Seattle's BLM mural to become permanent." KUOW, 22 Sept. 2020. https://www.kuow.org/stories/made-in-the-chop-seattle-s-blm-mural-to-be-permanentLinks to an external site.
Vansynghel, Margo. "16 artists, 1 message: Seattle's Black Lives Matter mural a year later." Crosscut, 2 June, 2021. https://crosscut.com/culture/2021/06/16-artists-1-message-seattles-black-lives-matter-mural-year-laterLinks to an external site.
Kamb, Lewis. "How the Black Lives Matter street mural came together on Seattle's Capitol Hill." The Seattle Times, 12 June, 2020.https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-the-black-lives-matter-street-mural-came-together-on-seattles-capitol-hill/Links to an external site.