| Black Lives Matter street mural | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Year | 2020 |
| Location | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| 47°36′55″N122°19′08″W / 47.6153°N 122.3189°W | |
A "Black Lives Matter" street mural was painted in Capitol Hill, Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington in June 2020. [1] [2] Maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation, the artwork has survived longer than many Black Lives Matter street murals across the United States.
The text "Black Lives Matter" was first painted in large white letters on Pine Street between 10th and 11th avenues, during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. [3]
After the letters began to deteriorate, the mural was etched permanently into the road surface in September [4] and repainted with colorful, block letters, each contributed by a different artist. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Mural artists include Takiyah Ward [9] and Kimisha Turner. [10] The "E" in "matter" featured representations of graffiti seen around the city, and its artist was criticised for having included the anti-police slogan ACAB, apparently without notifying other artists. [11]
The mural is maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation. To protect the pedestrian area, slower traffic lanes came to displace East Pine Street's curb parking. The work was refreshed in July 2022 and will require periodic maintenance over time. [10] [12] [13]
In March 2023, Amanda Ong of the South Seattle Emerald said the community gardens and the mural "are all that remain" of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. [14] In June, Melissa Santos of Axios noted that Seattle's two Black Lives Matter murals have been preserved better than others across the United States. She wrote, "While some Black Lives Matter murals painted after the 2020 murder of George Floyd are getting paved over or worn away by traffic, Seattle has taken steps to restore its mural and make it permanent." [15] Jasmine Mahmoud of Black Arts Legacies called the mural "an enduring Seattle memorial" in mid-2023. [16]
The city of Seattle experienced protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and 2021. Beginning on May 29, 2020, demonstrators took to the streets throughout the city for marches and sit-ins, often of a peaceful nature but which also devolved into riots. Participants expressed opposition to systemic racism, police brutality and violence against people of color.
Black Lives Matter Plaza is a two-block-long pedestrian section of 16th Street NW in downtown Washington, D.C. The plaza was renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on June 5, 2020, after the Department of Public Works painted the words "Black Lives Matter" in yellow, 35-foot-tall (11 m) capital letters, along with the D.C. flag, during the series of George Floyd protests taking place in the city.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) or Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), originally Free Capitol Hill and occasionally the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), was an unlawful occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The zone, originally covering two intersections at the corners of Cal Anderson Park and the roads leading up to them, was established on June 8, 2020, by George Floyd protesters after the Seattle Police Department (SPD) left its East Precinct building. The zone was cleared of occupants by police on July 1, 2020.
Pine Street is a major east–west street in Seattle, Washington, United States. It travels parallel to Pike Street between Downtown Seattle and the retail core to Capitol Hill, the Central District, and Madrona.
Many artworks related to the Black Lives Matter movement have been created. These works are either seen as a direct tribute to those who have died or more broadly to the movement. Often the pieces are created in the streets as to be more publicly visible. As such several attempts have been made at preserving the art created in protest on the basis of their artistic merit and cultural significance. Increasingly, the erasure of the artwork has been a problem for preservationists. As such, the artworks below represent a fraction of the works created.
The Black Lives Matter street muralin Indianapolis is a large, colorful mural reading "#BLACKLIVESMATTER", with a raised fist, that 18 artists painted across a downtown roadway in August 2020, as part of the George Floyd protests. The mural is located on Indiana Avenue, the historic hub of the city's Black culture, on the same corner as the Madam C. J. Walker Building.
In August 2020, eight artists painted a Black Lives Matter street mural in Salt Lake City's Washington Square Park, outside the Salt Lake City and County Building, in the U.S. state of Utah. The city had commissioned the painting with a contest "to support and memorialize the national movement to eliminate systemic racism".
A "Black Lives Matter" street mural has been painted in Santa Cruz, California.
Many artworks related to the Black Lives Matter movement were created in New York City, during local protests over the murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
A "Black Lives Matter" street mural has been painted in Springfield, Massachusetts.
A "Black Lives Matter" street mural has been painted in Cincinnati, in the U.S. state of Ohio.
A Black Lives Matter mural was painted outside Seattle City Hall, in the U.S. state of Washington, in 2021.
Oddfellows Cafe and Bar is a restaurant in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, in the United States.
Dingfelder's Delicatessen is a restaurant in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Dacha Diner was an Eastern European, Jewish, and Russian restaurant in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Momiji is a Japanese restaurant with two locations in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The business operates on Capitol Hill and in South Lake Union.
Life on Mars is a vegan restaurant, bar, and record shop in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Osteria la Spiga is a Black-owned Italian restaurant on Seattle's Capitol Hill, in the U.S. state of Washington. Sabrina Tinsley is the chef and a co-owner with Pietro Borghesi. Established in 1998, the business specializes in foods from Northern Italy, specifically Bologna and Parma. The menu has included antipasti, pastas, soups, salads, and a tiramisu based on a family recipe. Osteria la Spiga has garnered a positive reception and has been deemed among Seattle's best Italian restaurants and Capitol Hill's best eateries. Tinsley opened nearby La Dispensa in 2022.
Marjorie was a restaurant in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. Owner Donna Moodie operated the business in Belltown from 2003 to 2008, before relocating to Capitol Hill. The restaurant closed in 2023, but is slated to re-open at a new location.
Media related to Black Lives Matter street mural (Capitol Hill, Seattle) at Wikimedia Commons| Buildings |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Business |
| ||
| Education | |||
| Geography |
| ||
| Public art |
| ||
| Transport | |||
Key: † No longer extant or on public display | |||
