PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – February is Black History Month. For the second straight year, the Shining Light Foundation is making sure locals don’t just learn about black social leaders but see them on buildings across Phoenix.
The foundation has been planning the creation of these murals since June of last year. “It’s magical,” Shining Light Foundation CEO Gizette Knight said. “It’s like going to Disneyland!”
Last year’s Shining Light Foundation Black History mural project was big. But as soon as it was over, Knight already had bigger plans for 2022.
Virginia and Richmond officials on Thursday announced a tentative agreement to transfer ownership of the city’s now mostly removed Confederate monuments to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.
“We had way more support this year,” Knight said. “A lot of people didn’t know that we were doing it again. So when they found out that we were doing the project again, a lot of people were just donating their walls for us to do the murals on.”
Thanks to some funding from Microsoft, Knight’s been able to put together similar mural projects in other cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta. She’s also attracted new artists like Mexico native Maria Madrid Reed.
Thanks to some funding from Microsoft, Knight’s been able to put together similar mural projects in other cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta.
“I’ve been learning so much just from getting into the project,” Madrid Reed said. “I think it’s very special and hope that people are curious about them and want to learn more.”
This year’s murals aren’t just art that educates. They’re art that collaborates. The foundation partnered with children in the Phoenix School Districts to write short essays about those in the murals and had each artist film a 30-second documentary about what it was like to be a part of the project.
“Oh man, so many emotions,” Madrid Reed said. “Because I feel like these guys are a part of me, and I’m putting my soul into it.”
All in all, 22 artists contributed to this year’s project. Some created murals of older trailblazers like boxers Jack Johnson and Muhammad Ali; others painted murals of contemporary leaders like Simone Biles and the Phoenix Suns.
“People wanted to see the murals,” Knight said. “Little kids seeing representations of themselves out in Phoenix.”
Representations that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. “We are definitely going to do it again next year and again after that,” Knight added. “And again after that.”
These murals will be finished by February 11th, when a documentary about last year’s mural project will air at 7 pm at the Luna Culture Lab (803 E. Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034). Those interested in attending can email Yajaira Calderon.
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