The Enough is Enough street art mural in Seattle, Washington features the phrase “Black Lives Matter” painted in large black letters on the sidewalk with the phrase “Enough is Enough” written underneath it in italic red letters. The work is in front of the Seattle City Hall and was sanctioned by the city in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement using funds from the BLM relief fund. The piece was requested by several community groups, including the Center on Contemporary Art and the Onyx Fine Arts Collective. The design for the mural was created by a muralist for the Seattle Department of Transportation. That same department is also responsible for the upkeep of the mural, which is to be maintained by the city for at least the next 5 years. It was important to the Seattle community that the mural be created on city property, specifically in front of city hall, to demonstrate the government’s commitment to creating positive change for minority populations. Mayor of Seattle Jenny Durkan said, “For years to come, all those who pass through Fourth and Cherry will see this celebration of the profound impact the Black Lives Matter movement is having on our city and country. I’m grateful to our community partners and City staff who made this installation a reality” (Zhou). The promised maintenance of the mural also reaffirms the government’s commitment to this cause.
This is not the only Black Lives Matter mural in Seattle, as other murals have popped up around the city following the months of protesting in 2020. A similar mural with the phrase “Black Lives Matter” in large letters is painted on the street on Seattle City Hill. In this mural, each large letter was designed by a different artist of the Black community. This mural is also guaranteed to be maintained by the city for the next 5 years as the city has agreed to pay the artists to return to the mural once a year to touch up their letters.
Sources
Lewis Kamb. "How the Black Lives Matter Street Mural Came Together on Seattle's Capitol Hill." The Seattle times, Jun 12, 2020. Global News & ABI/Inform Professional, https://search.proquest.com/docview/2412015044.
Zhou, Amanda. "Seattle Black Lives Matter Mural Takes Message to the Street." The Seattle times, Sep 23, 2021. Global News & ABI/Inform Professional, https://search.proquest.com/docview/2575193968.
Researched by Katie Sadowski
Image URLThe 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.