Black Lives Matter: A+

[Drone photos from Mingomatic.]

On July 2 and 3, Thrive Collective joined an all-star lineup of artists led by Tats Cru to paint the Black Lives Matter mural in Foley Square. Our primary assignment: the A in “Black.” We also helped block in the word “Matters,” and finish the K in “Black” and E in “Lives.” The mural spans three blocks on Centre Street in front of the federal and state courthouses. The A sits directly in front of the Thurgood Marshall nameplate on the federal courthouse, the civil rights lion who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case in the US Supreme Court that overturned Jim Crow and desegregated public schools. His Honor later became the first Black Supreme Court justice.

Thank you, Tats Cru, for inviting our collaboration. Thanks to the designers WXY Studio, Tijay Mohammed, Sophia Dawson, and Patrice Payne for their vision, and the extraordinary artists bringing the vision to life: Bio, Nicer, BG183, Crash, Andre Trenier, Eric Orr, Charlie Doves, Martha Alicia, Peter Paid, Gia Gutierrez, Jamie Hef, SadeTCM, Sienide, Mark Lawrence, Key Detail, and more. Special thanks to artists Jon “PHES” Souza, Marissa Molina, Peach Tao, Will DeNatale, Abby Walsh, Dax Matlock, and Rebecca Heritage for representing Thrive Collective well.

BLM Mural in Process

• Fast Company: “More than art, the future of urbanism.”
• New York Times: “Opportunities for community togetherness.”
• NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Cassals: NYC “slowed the process down and listened to the community.”

BLM Mural as Seen on Media