Local artists collaborate to paint a giant Black Lives Matter mural on the street

A group of local artists took to the street in Seattle to show their support for Black Lives Matter.

The artists painted a colorful mural of the phrase along an entire block in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, with a different artist creating a custom design for each of the 16 massive letters.

The art along East Pine Street is near a police precinct left empty as demonstrators protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis began occupying the area around it. Some protesters are now calling the area the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

Artists Takiyah Ward, Joey Nix, and Japhy White organized the painting and helped get the local artists on board.

Muralist and Mexican American Angelina Villalobos painted the “A.” She told CNN that the artists found out about the project by word of mouth.

The Seattle native, her sister Claudia, her niece Gabba, and her stepdaughter Mercedes were all part of the painting, and even added something to make it extra special.

“We put (my mom’s ashes) in the paint color that is her favorite … so she is specifically part of the letter A, but if anyone else used my paint she’s a part of the whole thing,” Villalobos said.

Her family takes the ashes with them wherever they go and leave some of her on their adventures.

“This is something she would have been passionate about … we still wanted her to be a part of it because we knew this was something that would have aligned with her goals, and with how she thought the world should be,” she said.

Villalobos said it took a team of people to make the massive mural happen, and she was most proud that her teenage niece and stepdaughter were a part of its creation.

“I’m so proud they were involved. In my work, it’s vital that we engage youth and nurture their awareness of how they see themselves in relation to the rest of the world.”

Garrett Padera took photos of artists painting the mural from the roof of a nearby building.

Padera told CNN it has been interesting to live in the area. He’s been going to most of the protests since they started in late May.

Seattle isn’t the only city painting the streets. The trend began in Washington, DC, where the words “Black Lives Matter” appear in massive yellow lettering near Capitol Hill. A similar mural also covers a street in Charlotte.