Black Lives Matter InTheBurg

On the first day of Summer, June 20th, 2020, in the spirit of Juneteenth, local artists and community volunteers gathered in downtown Spartanburg to create the largest mural in the Downtown Cultural District.

"BLACK LIVES MATTER."

This BLM street mural is the first of its kind in South Carolina, modeled after similar murals in Washington D.C. and Charlotte, North Carolina. The 240 ft long mural is located on West Broad Street, across from City Hall. (145 W. Broad St)

Organized by Frankie Zombíe, Councilperson Erica Brown (District 6,) and community partners, the privately funded mural was proposed to City Council with no objections. Frankie Zombíe assisted in painting Charlotte's mural the week prior to organizing Spartanburg's mural, and gathered fifteen other artists to paint the mural in a single day, from 9am-7pm.

• View drone video footage of the completed Black Lives Matter mural, by Hub City Bees.

• View progress photos of the mural painting, by Tim Kimzey for GoUpstate.com.

• View drone photographs by Alex Orellana, for GoUpstate.com. (Article cover photo by Alex Orellana, @itzjustalex_2.)

• View photos of the artists and the following celebration, taken by the Smithalee crew, Douglas Fairnot, Porsche PorkyMae, Afrikana White, and Andrew Moore.

Participating Artists:

Give these awesome artists a follow on Instagram, or send them some love on Venmo/ Cash App for their volunteered talents.

B- Abel Jackson, @artbyabel (Cash App: $artbyabel)

L- Lucy Boland, @lucybolandart (Venmo: @Lucy-Boland)

A- Adrian Meadows, @iiaspire (Cash App: $IIAspire)

C- Nancy Corbin, @nancycorbin62

K- Ty McBride, @mulattocharliepaints (Cash App: $MulattoCharlie)

L- Johni Bleu, @johnibleu (Venmo: @johnibleu)

I- DeNeer Davis, @neerperfection (Cash App: $neerperfection)

V- Makayla Binter, @mkay_15 (Cash App: $mak-bin)

E- Frankie Zombíe, @frankie.zombie_ (Venmo: @Frankiezombie)

S- Josh Jackson, @jackson_art_ (Cash App: $Jacksonart)

M- Maggie Macdonald, @maggssmac.art (Venmo: @Maggiemacdonald25)

A- John Hairston, @jagolactus_

T- D. Alexander, @mylowscustoms (Cash App: $mylowscustoms)

T- Darion Fleming, @daflemingo (Venmo: @Darion-Fleming)

E- Farticus Was Here, @fart.pdf (Cash App: $FartPDF)

R- The MADDD Artist, @rodericecardell

“We are definitely going in a great direction,” Zombíe said. “There are so many cultures of people out here today supporting Black Lives Matter. It has nothing to do with disliking anyone or hating anyone. It’s about Spartanburg trying to push forward.”

Darion Fleming of Charlotte was another artist who helped with both Spartanburg and Charlotte's murals. "This needed to be painted and voiced,” Fleming said. “Art is really good at doing that, especially public art. I really hope it brings the community together. That is what we saw in Charlotte when we did it there.”

Drone photo by Hub City Bees.Read the full article covering the completion and organization of Spartanburg's Black Lives Matter street mural here, from GoUpstate.com.