LYNN — The six artists who will paint the Black Lives Matter mural on Essex Street, running from Lynn District Court to City Hall, on July 24 and 25 have been chosen.
The leaders of this project — English High School graduates Carlos Prudencio and Damianny Garrido — selected artists Michael Aghahowa and Jah’Nyah Spencer of Lynn; Mike Grimaldi, Anna Dugan and Miguel Cruz of Salem; and Jason Reyes of Lawrence.
Garrido said she is excited to see what these artists will do for the city and for the Black community.
In choosing these artists, Prudencio and Garrido made a request for quotations (RFQ) and made the positions for volunteers, artists and engineers available.
After friends, family and community members shared these positions online and by word of mouth, Garrido said they had 10 artists’ applications by the time the RFQ was closed.
The duo then researched these artists’ websites and social media, checking the scale of their work and how colorful it was.
“We wanted a different style from each of them,” Garrido explained.
Prudencio said he and Garrido then chose the artists based on their skills and their experience with mural work and the Black Lives Matter movement.
One of the Lynn artists, Spencer, was involved with the city’s Raw Art Works organization and released a statement regarding Black Lives Matter via Facebook, where she said that multigenerational trauma with no intervention is made manifest in our country’s present-day race relations.
She said it is a shame that “we are where we are, but fortunately for us we don’t have to be like those who gave us our scars.”
Prudencio and Garrido began working toward this mural last summer, and created the group One Lynn, One Love to create, plan and implement the project.
After months of preparation, planning and figuring out the logistics, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the mural on April 27, followed by a City Council order permitting the project, which was signed on May 6 by Mayor Thomas M. McGee.
One Lynn, One Love also created a GoFundMe page to assist with the expenses coinciding with the project, including the materials for the mural, storage, food and water, a travel stipend (if needed) and creative stipends for the artists.
Donations can still be made to the GoFundMe page, and shirts featuring Spencer’s art can also be ordered online at Onelynnoneloveshirts.itemorder.com.
