![]() These are the hands of community members who joined the mural artists for a community painting day, where all were welcome to come and add their hand print to incorporate the community into the design process. Within the quilt are different shades of green handprints. “The other thing that a quilt to me symbolizes is a covering, and a protection and a comfort,” Bonner said. Quilts can relay messages and keep shared histories alive, Bonner said. This was a nod to the history of quilt-making in the African-American community as a way to communicate messages with each other that others could not decode. Viewing the mural, the words are clear across the space and Bonner said this was a way to bring these experiences to life and conversation.Ī painted quilt blankets the entire space in green and yellows, reds and blacks. Words like “joy” and “fear.” Bonner decided to paint the words in the roots, because she said these experiences and histories often live underneath the surface for people everyday, like the roots of a tree. ![]() Within the roots of the tree are painted words that Bonner said came from the surveys. ![]() Tree roots are filled with words like “safety,” “fear,” and “joy,” to reflect experiences and feelings of Tacoma’s Black community. Artists Kenya Adams, Danielle Jordan, Gwen Jones, and Chuck Taylor came together with Bonner to bring the mural vision to reality. The Black Lives Matter mural project was a collaboration across Tacoma. “Many people went on this journey with me, and I want to thank them.” “This plaza is expansive, and I could not have completed this mural by myself or this project, in the time that it was completed by everyone,” Bonner said. The Tacoma Human Rights Commission spearheaded the effort to get the city to create a Black Lives Matter mural, selecting Bonner as the lead-artist on the project.īonner shared her heartfelt gratitude to a number of people who made the mural possible. “This mural was just one more example of the city demonstrating reconciliation,” Blocker said.īlocker then affirmed the city’s dedication to addressing inequity facing Black people, saying “Tacoma is the place that this can happen in the truest sense.” Her comments were met by thunderous applause and cheers.Ĭouncil Member Keith Blocker spoke on the work the city has been undertaking to reconcile past race relations, including the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park, Japanese Language School Memorial and removal of the inauthentic totem pole at Fireman’s Park. We will do everything that we need to do to make sure that there is absolute belonging in the city.” We will speak out, we will act, we will create art. “We in Tacoma will not be silent, good people. “He said when the day of judgment arrives, we will have to repent not for the acts of the bad but the silence of the good,” Jinkins said. Washington State Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins offered brief remarks to the crowd, referencing Dr. Photo by Lauren Gallup.Īrtists painted a portion of the resolution written by Woodards into the mural. Mayor Victoria Woodards addresses the crowd at the mural’s dedication on Oct. “And we have to show those in our community who look like me today that their lives matter.” “That is our commitment as a council, and for this city, to be anti-racist, and to call it out in such a way that everyone understands that we have to not just be quiet, but we have to be vocal and loud,” Woodards said. Woodards referenced the 2020 unanimously-signed resolution 40622 of the city’s commitment to anti-racism. “What you see before you really is an opportunity for the Tacoma City Council, and the city staff to visually show our support of our anti-racist work,” Woodards said. Mayor Victoria Woodards led the speaker lineup by expressing appreciation for the momentous day this was for the city. Last Friday, a handful of elected officials, arts organization representatives and Bonner announced the completion of the new mural in Tollefson Plaza. Lead-artist Dionne Bonner stands next to a portion of the mural, which shows the resolution by Tacoma’s city council on their commitment to anti-racism.
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