Two Women’s Empowerment Murals to be Dedicated in Shaw during Open Streets Event, 06/04/22!

Two of the latest and largest murals in Washington, DC’s Shaw neighborhood will be dedicated in a public ceremony on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 12:30 PM at Seventh Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NW. The ceremony, which will feature Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and female members of her cabinet, will be part of the District Department of Transportation’s Open Streets event which will close Seventh Street for nine hours that day.

Both murals were created by female artists and display female diversity and the activism and initiative of women.   

The first mural, entitled “She Got We,” is by artist Cita Sadeli MISS CHELOVE, whose work can also be seen on the façades of the Hotel Zena at Thomas Circle and the National Museum of Women in the Arts at 13^th Street and New York Avenue, among other places. She is also the subject of a new short documentary film, “Miss Chelove,” that was just screened at the 2022 DC Film Fest and the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore. The three-story tall mural on the north wall of 1620 Seventh Street, NW, facing Rhode Island Avenue, features rich photo-realistic portraits of multi-ethnic, multi-generational women. The expressions and postures of each figure support a feeling of strength, pride, interdependence, resilience and confidence. Thanks to Capital Medical Supply for hosting the mural on the wall of their building.

The second mural, “Together,” is the work of Nia Ketura Calhoun, Maggie O’Neill and Lisa Marie Thalhammer. Thalhammer is perhaps best known for her ‘rainbow “love” mural in the DC Alley Museum, in Blagden Alley. O’Neill is the co-founder of the Swatchroom design studio and is known for her distinctive painting style. Calhoun’s most recent mural honors soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson at 14th and S Streets, NW. The five-story tall mural is a tribute to American’s Freedom of Assembly, exemplified by the 2017 Women’s March. Thanks to Douglas Development Corporation for hosting the mural on the wall of their buildingbuilding at 1301-1309 Ninth Street, NW.

Both murals were funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Public Art Building Communities Grant Program, Muriel E. Bowser, Mayor. The projects were coordinated by Shaw Main Streets.

Mayor Bowser and female members of her cabinet will be at the have been invited to the ceremony for photo ops in front of the murals. Mayor Bowser is confirmed to provide remarks and cut ceremonial ribbons, along with Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, the directors of the Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Department of Small and Local Business Development, and the artists. Following the ceremony at Seventh and Rhode Island, those in attendance will be invited to join in a procession down Seventh Street to the second mural’s location, 1309 Ninth Street, NW, for another photo op and ribbon cutting.

“The two new murals are a great addition to Shaw’s collection of public art, which residents and visitors alike get to enjoy every day and night,” says Alexander M. Padro, executive director of Shaw Main Streets. “These big and bold works by female artists add another reason for everyone to come explore and enjoy everything that Shaw has to offer.”

Signature Open Streets on 7th Street, NW

The District Department of Transportation is closing over a mile and a half of Seventh Street to cars and opening them to people to freely bike, walk, and engage in a number of fun and social activities for the whole family on Saturday, June 4, 2022. From Shaw all the way through the Penn Quarter, programming related to transportation safety, health, and fitness will be offered. Many businesses and nonprofit organizations will offer be offering activations and specials. The event will take place from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Don’t forget to bring your tennis shoes, water bottle, and a hat. For more information, visit www.openstreets.dc.gov.

Public Art Building Communities Grant Program

The Public Art Building Communities Grant Program (PABC) is one of the programs offered by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH). The PABC grant program awards project funding to support individual artists and nonprofit organizations in their effort to design, fabricate and install new temporary or permanent works of public art that connect artists and artworks to the community.  CAH is an independent agency in the District of Columbia government that evaluates and initiates action on matters relating to the arts and humanities and encourages programs and the development of programs that promote progress in the arts and humanities. As the designated state arts agency for the District of Columbia, CAH is supported primarily through District government funds and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information, visit www.dcarts.dc.gov.

Shaw Main Streets 

Shaw Main Streets was established in 2003 to encourage and support economic revitalization and historic preservation along the 7th and 9th Street, NW commercial corridors. The organization’s service area was later expanded to stretch from Sixth Street on the east to 11th Street on the west, and from Massachusetts Avenue, K Street and New York Avenue at the south to Barry Place and Florida Avenue on the north. The organization has attracted and supported over 400 new businesses in the central Shaw commercial district, resulting in the creation of thousands of new permanent jobs. Nearly $3 Billion in commercial and residential development have been facilitated by Shaw Main Streets’ efforts. Shaw Main Streets won the 2016 Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center. Shaw Main Streets is a designated DC Main Streets program and is funded in part by the Department of Small and Local Business Development, Muriel E. Bowser, Mayor. For more information, visit www.shawmainstreets.org.