Many public art installations have been created in support of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, including street murals appearing on the streets of cities across the country after the words were painted in bright yellow on the street behind the White House on June 5. While some examples have been powerful because of their timely reaction to current events, some communities are emphasizing the importance of taking the time to have community input before creating anything and to ensure that those involved with the public art projects are committed to the issue for which the art is seeking to promote. 

When the New York City Public Design Commission (which has jurisdiction over all buildings and art proposed on city-owned property in Manhattan) set out to paint their own street mural, they slowed the process and listened to the community: “We actually took the time to have the conversations with people that are in the actual Black Lives Matter movement,” says Justin Garett Moore, executive director of the New York City Public Design Commission.  

The result of delaying the NYC mural’s creation and including community input is a 600-foot-long mural that not only says “Black Lives Matter” and is painted in an area adjacent to land that was a burial ground for people of African descent in the 17th and 18th centuries, but also one that is rooted in the principles that guide the movement. Led by the office of Manhattan borough president Gale A. Brewer and under the guidance of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, the project was coordinated by designers of color from an architecture and urban planning firm based in New York. Amina Hassen, an associate and urban planner at WXY, says that how the mural got made and who was involved was just as important as how it looked to ensure the mural aligned with the broader message of the BLM movement.

“Very often, people making decisions about what goes on the street or what building goes up, they’re not really aware of issues facing members of the community that they’re putting things on the streets in,” says architectural designer Jhordan Channer from WXY, who was involved with the NYC mural. Coordinators and designers of the mural project in NYC ensured that all collaborators involved in the mural’s conception were aligned with the broader anti-racist stance and message of the BLM movement. Approaching all development as requiring comm be leveraged by urban planners and architects and their process for adding to the built enviornment that