MURALS
bedroom
austin, texas
may 2024
a collab with one of my favorite texas teenagers! sarah mcclain choose this color scheme, and we came up with the design together. thank you to the matens family for always supporting my art + letting me paint the walls of your new home
denver, colorado
august 2021
I want to create work that tells the stories and truths of people, histories, and communities - work that can be integrated as a backdrop to the daily rhythms of living. These murals for the new middle school campus at DSST: Cole Campus were the perfect opportunity to do so.
Known as “the poet of the people”,
June Jordan was a prodigious Black, queer, female poet, teacher, and activist, as well as one of my favorite poets. The student body on the Cole Campus consists of predominantly students of color, so it was my priority that these murals feature inspirational words of people who both embodied and championed their identities and cultures.
I hope Jordan’s words remind the students on the Cole Campus that they as individuals — as well as a collective generation — are co-creators in their communities and in the world at large. On difficult days, I hope Jordan’s words remind the educators at Cole of the sacred work they do as formative figures in the lives of their students, as they model and believe in the creation of a more beautiful reality.
I was also inspired by the enduring strength and history of the Five Points neighborhood, where the Cole Campus is located.
Five Points was historically the home and neighborhood of many revolutionaries and activists who fought for the equality of people of color in Denver, as well as home to sites of gathering, community and culture.
The gentrification of this historic Civil Rights landmark neighborhood began in the early 2000s, complicating many facets of life for its longtime residents — namely threatening the erasure of the history of Five Points as a respite from discrimination for Black and Hispanic people. One of my central aims of this mural was to highlight some of the geographical landmarks within the Five Points neighborhood that were once — and in some cases still remain — places of resistance, hope, and diverse community.
I included the Cole Campus and the closely affiliated Manual High School on this map to subtly remind students that they are a part of a community and neighborhood that has a long history believing in and valuing their lives, histories, and stories.