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A mural of the late Rep. John Lewis on State Street demands our attention

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Tue, 12/01/2020 - 1:05pm

Have you seen the mural of the late Rep. John Lewis at 55 State Street in downtown Rochester? Covering 3,000 square feet of wall space, it is stunning and should definitely be seen in person! It's titled "I Am Speaking", which is based on a photo of Lewis taken in 1963 during one of his speeches. The mural was created by artists Ephraim Gebre, Darius Dennis, Jared Diaz and Dan Harrington. 

“One thing I want them (Rochesterians) to see is people of color represented. People of color who’ve played meaningful roles in society represented and for that to be permanent,” explains Jared Diaz in a WXXI News report. Click here to access the full story, "I AM SPEAKING mural honors a legend and demands the attention of Rochester" that was written by WXXI News reporter James Brown with video footage from WXXI News photojournalist/videographer Max Schulte.

The mural is getting national attention with James and Max's feature scheduled to run on PBS NewsHour (broadcast date TBA) and the story is featured on PBS NewsHour's arts website here.

And, if you haven't read Daniel Kushner's piece in CITY about Ephraim Gebre and his mentor, Rochester's Shawn Dunwoody, you should check it out. Ephraim was part of the Dunwoody's Fruitbelt Project, a group of teens that worked to install colorful messages in some of Rochester, NY’s most depressed areas. Click here to read the story.

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