Denver has closed Broadway from 13th to 17th avenues on Friday to allow local artists to paint a Black Lives Matter mural on the street roughly halfway between the City and County Building and the state Capitol, city officials said in a news release.
The mural, to be painted on Broadway between Colfax and 14th avenues, is designed by local artist Adri Norris, who will be working with Pat Milbery. According to the city, they’re also asking local Denver creatives — especially black and indigenous artists, and other artists of color — and community volunteers to help with the project from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
According to the city news release, “This partnership between the city and the artists is being undertaken in the spirit of collaboration and alliance, creating a platform for voices of color, and building community voices against racial injustice.”
Broadway will remain closed to vehicles between 13th and 17th until 11:59 p.m. Friday, but the area will remain open to people on foot, the city noted, for those attending the ongoing racial justice demonstrations that have been centered on the nearby Capitol grounds.
The Denver mural follows the giant, 2-block-long painting of the words “Black Lives Matter” on a street near the White House in Washington, D.C. — a project sanctioned by that city’s mayor. Since then, the Washington Post reported, similar street paintings have been undertaken with the blessing of local leaders in Sacramento and Oakland, Calif., as well as Raleigh, N.C.
