MURAL MATTERS
Artists, students come together to paint a message
NORRISTOWN >> The pavement of a street in downtown Norristown will never be the same after a mural was painted with a strong message: Black Lives Matter.
“We hope it starts here, and goes into households because there’s a lot of uncomfortable conversations that we need to have, and what a great opportunity for that to start here,” said artist Drew Montemayor, a Conshohocken native who now lives in Philadelphia.
Fellow artist Jeleata Nicole, of Charleston, South Carolina, who’s originally from Norristown, agreed. She said she hoped that this mural could be an artistic vehicle for a greater path forward.
“Be the change, one paint brush at a time,” Nicole said.
Along with the project’s creators, municipal and Montgomery County leaders were present during the mural’s unveiling Friday afternoon on the street in front of the Montgomery County Courthouse.
The reveal of the street mural was months in the making.
Members of the Norristown Municipal Council initially approved the implementation of an art installation last August, but it was not without some controversy. The meeting’s public comment portion brought differing opinions on the matter.
“There’s a lot of people out there that are a little upset with the fact that we’re putting Black Lives Matter, but we’re doing more than that — a lot of the Black community that’s hurting right now, but in order for us to move forward, we have to do it
as a team,” Nicole told MediaNews Group.
Montemayor and Nicole later presented a concept in February, which was endorsed by local officials.
Initially inspired by the Black Lives Matter mural in Cincinnati, Ohio, Montemayor and Nicole included the faces of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , John Lewis and George Floyd.
Themes of unity and equality were present throughout the mural’s overall design.
Montemayor referenced the mural’s letter “V,” which showcased two hands joining as one.
“All of our lives are together,” Montemayor said. “If one community is struggling, and having a difficult time, then it’s part of the entire community as a whole so we have to stand together for each other.”
More than three months later, the duo got to work in sketching out the letters along the 400 block of Swede Street. They stressed the importance of community involvement in the creation of the mural.
“We have to do this with the youth, because youth is our future, and we also have to have all the nationalities coming together as one where we can shout from the rooftops as loud as we want,” Nicole said. “But until we come together as a team nothing is going to change.”
They opened painting up to volunteers starting on May 9, and continued throughout the week.
“Especially with COVID, [it felt] ... so good to have people surrounding us, and we’re doing it all together,” Montemayor said.
Day after day, area residents, students, activists, elected officials, and representatives from the NAACP’s Norristown branch showed up to leave their mark with a stroke of a paint brush.
Montemayor and Nicole held sessions for volunteers to paint in the mornings and afternoon. Participants were assigned a certain portion of the mural, using acrylic-based paint. The process was repeated until the mural was completed.
A group of ninth graders from Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School ventured from the City of Brotherly Love to the county seat on Tuesday morning to help out.
“It gives a sense of unity after all we’ve been through with the pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter, and the George Floyd thing,” said Taylor Smith, 14. “It just gives a sense of unity and togetherness that we all need in the world.”
“When people see this, I just want them to have a great impact on their lives, and how they treat other people,” said Richard Compres-Taveras, 14.
Elkins Park resident Bill Chandler, a bus driver for the Philadelphia private school, added that the initiative is a “very good idea” as he painstakingly worked on painting a $20 bill on the mural’s letter “K” in Black Lives Matter.
As Nicole reflected on the journey, she hoped community members would gain a “sense of peace,” a “sense of unity” and “healing” from the finished work of art.
“We all want to be a part of it,” Nicole said. “We all have something to say, but to actually actively come together and continue to do something; it’s inspiring.”