Murals for Change
Robbie Lee Harris painted his Black Lives Matter mural at the Rialto Theatre. (Photo courtesy Robbie Lee Harris)
Artists paint their support for Black Lives Matter BY LAURA LATZKO Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Dion Johnson and Ahmaud Arbery, people around the world are protesting for justice, equal treatment, and restructuring and retraining of police departments and redistribution of funding into communities. Those who support the Black Lives Matter movement, which officially started in 2013, have found different ways to express themselves. In Tucson, artists have used public murals to protest. Some artists have created individual murals, while others have participated in group projects. Through their pieces, they hope to inspire change and spark multifaceted discussions.
Camila Ibarra Camila Ibarra wanted to make a statement about the COVID-19 pandemic and
the Black Lives Matter movement with her Black Lives Matter mural on Hotel Congress. Her work depicts a woman in a mask with the words “Black Lives Matter” painted into her hair and fists raised in protests behind her. Ibarra completed the mural in two days. She brought her own painting supplies, and the Hotel Congress provided her with a wall space. Ibarra says the woman in her mural represents the fortitude and perseverance of those protesting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mural felt personal to her as a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. “When I was painting it, it meant a lot to me, so I was really emotional when I was painting it. I was hoping that I would be able to portray that emotion through my mural,” Ibarra says. She was inspired by a picture of a powerful-looking woman she saw on the internet, but she added her own interpretation. Ibarra says the response has surprised her. “It’s crazy how many different perspectives I’ve gotten to hear about that mural,” Ibarra says. “I didn’t expect it to impact people the way that it did.” Ibarra sold T-shirts and prints of her work to raise money for bailout funds for individuals arrested during protests and for scholarships for people of color. She was able to raise thousands of dollars toward the local causes. This is Ibarra’s first public mural, but she painted several for Sahuaro High School as a teen and a sports-themed one at a Tempe boxing gym. She developed an interest in art during her freshman year in high school and later took an Advanced Placement art class her senior year. She has experience in drawing, Camila Ibarra painted her Black Lives Matter mural on a wall at Hotel Congress. (Photo by Marianna Ibarra)
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painting and doing portraits. Ibarra has been able to pursue multiple passions in her life at the same time, as she is studying engineering at ASU while doing art commissions as a side job. Ibarra is part of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ ASU chapter, where she is able to use her engineering and artistic knowledge. “They rely on me a lot to do art because they know I’m the artist in the group,” Ibarra says. “I definitely get to be very hands-on there and take on a leadership position.”
Downtown Mural Project A number of artists painted murals in Downtown Tucson as part of a project organized by Joe Pagac, a local muralist. Although Pagac doesn’t usually do politically driven or controversial projects, he felt it was important to get involved. Pagac was originally going to do the murals himself but decided it was important to include an African American artist in the project. “What was originally going to be me going out and painting these walls very quickly evolved into trying to get some
of the Black artists in town who haven’t had as many opportunities to get walls or haven’t had any opportunities to paint murals to paint these walls,” Pagac says. He put out a call for artists and supplies on Facebook. The muralists painted on walls in various Downtown Tucson spaces. The muralists come from different backgrounds and levels of experience. They were given the freedom to be creative, with the only connecting thread being the words “Black Lives Matter.” Participating artists included Nolan Patterson, Adia Jamille, Robbie Lee Harris and To-Ree-Nee Wolf. For the artists involved, it was important to lend their abilities, voices and platforms to the cause. “It was a way that I could offer something to the moment. It was something that I could be a part of in a larger way. I could offer my creativity and my skills to witness this profound moment,” Wolf says. For a mural at the Rialto Theatre, Harris represented a young woman who is crying, blowing on a dandelion and wishing for equality. Around her, he painted the words “Justice,” “Love,” “Peace,” “Freedom,” “Equality” and “Liberty.” “Just from being born, those six words should automatically apply to you. We unfortunately live in a society where those scales are not even,” Harris says. Harris was inspired by the women in his life—his aunts, mother and sister, and his two daughters. Murals...continues on page 7
Adia Jamille created her Black Lives Matter mural on a wall at the MSA Annex. (Photo courtesy Adia Jamille)
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