The Black Lives Matter mural in front of Cincinnati City Hall is getting a refresh this week. The art was installed on Plum Street two years ago with private funding, and the city added a protective overlay last year.
“There are 17 amazing artists that the visionary Alandes Powell and myself pulled together in just two days,” said Tashawna Otabil, co-owner of Black Art Speaks. “This is just symbolic of not just our heart desires, but our goal to want to express real change — systemic racism, health equity, pay equity — among various different things that are represented out there.”
Artists from Black Art Speaks will re-paint the outline of each letter this year, then another protective overlay will be applied across the whole mural. The public is invited to watch the artists at work from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
Plum Street between 8th and 9th will be closed starting until early Tuesday morning so people can see the mural.
Black Art Speaks recently published a book documenting how the project came together.
