|
Far right panel of “Metamorphosis” mural.
|
On Dec. 18, just a few hours before the blizzard began, members of the Ward 7 Arts Collaborative, Deanwood Heights Main Streets and Murals DC officially introduced Ward 7’s newest mural to a small crowd of children and adults. Located on the wall of the A-1 Grocery at 615 Division Ave. NE, the mural depicts a community in transition, from violence and racial conflict to healing and transformation.
“When crack came along in the ’80s it devastated people,” says Wanda Aikens, executive director of the collaborative. “The businesses, the families, the whole society. So many problems that are still plaguing us today.” The mural, titled “Metamorphosis,” is intended to reflect the issues specific to this area. Former W7AC intern Maurice Hill developed the concept, which he states, reflects “humanity’s history of violence and racial barriers, how they’re affecting the world now and how they can affect the world in the future.”
“Metamorphosis” is one of six murals produced under the city’s Murals DC program. Murals DC is a collaboration between the DC Department of Public Works and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. DC Councilmember Jim Graham (Ward 1), who oversees the public works committee, was instrumental in setting up the program. The DC Commission is responsible for oversight and allocating funds to participating artists and arts organizations.
Murals DC began in 2007 as an attempt to redirect DPW’s efforts to repaint graffiti by enlisting young artists to create aerosol (spray paint) art on areas at risk of vandalism. “They were spending upwards of $1 million a year just to go and paint over it and have the people come back and tag it again,” says Dominic Painter, executive director of the after-school arts nonprofit Midnight Forum, which is providing technical assistance to the commission.
Painter cites three goals of the project: vandalism abatement, youth outreach and community beautification. He is quick to clarify the difference between “tagging,” the street term for spray painting one’s name on a wall, and graffiti artwork, which has developed into an international art form, closely related to the other basic elements of hip-hop culture. “What we’re trying to do is show people that there’s a tremendous amount of talent that comes from the community that has been drawn to this specific style of art and even though they might not go into traditional art programs right away, hopefully through their inherent interest in graffiti art, they can be exposed to deeper styles and maybe go on to art schools and learn traditional art as well.”
When Aikens saw the book Murals DC produced, showcasing 12 murals that were completed in 2008, she expressed concern that none of them were in Ward 7 and set about making sure we would be included in the future. According to Painter, the issue was not slighting East of the River neighborhoods but getting buy-in from local business and real estate owners, who were skeptical about allowing youth to spray paint their establishments.
Enter Deanwood Heights Main Streets. Organized to help small businesses in the area improve their facilities’ curb appeal, selection and customer-friendliness, Main Streets already had earned the trust of several neighborhood shopkeepers, including Frank Han, proprietor of the A-1 Grocery. “Coincidentally, we were going to put a mural on the side wall and quite by accident someone sent me an e-mail that DPW is interested in putting a mural on that wall,” says Main Streets Executive Director Deborah Jones.
Soon, the various agencies established a partnership: Deanwood Heights Main Streets paid for the wall to be prepped, and DPW covered the cost of the mural itself, while the collaborative put together a team of artists that included Hill and renowned muralist Rik Freeman. Donnelle Davis, a young man who recently received his first public art contract with Blue Skye Development through the collaborative, joined the project as an apprentice. Aerosol specialist Tim Conlon joined the project through Murals DC, and three neighborhood students, Carl Patrick, Devon Brown and Alayshia Hill, rounded out the paint crew.
The team worked through November and early December to complete the mural, and on Dec. 11, city representatives came to see the work as part of Murals DC’s bus tour of the six projects completed this year. Han greeted the group, extending his thanks to the mayor, council people, and Deanwood Heights Main Streets for selecting his store, which has been in the neighborhood for 12 years. “Our customers come to [the] store, saw that, everybody happy. Whole neighborhood. It’s a nice picture for the neighborhood – customers, too. So it’s good for our business, too.”
Aikens believes the mural will be good business for Ward 7’s growing artistic community as well. Just as the butterfly in the mural represents the highest hopes of all people and the changing of our community into a beautiful, safe and healthy place to live, she hopes that increasing the visibility of art in Ward 7 will help residents and officials alike to see art as “part of the creative economy and the smart growth that will help people understand that this is an important destination.”
Follow these links for more information about the mural project:
Ward 7 Arts Collaborative - www.w7ac.org
Murals DC - muralsdc.wordpress.com
Deanwood Heights Main Streets - www.dhmainstreets.org
|
