DECATUR, Ga — Hundreds of volunteers gathered in downtown Decatur Saturday to help install a "Black Lives Matter" street mural.
The mural, which is similar to ones that were painted in Washington, D.C. and New York, was painted just behind the downtown square and in front of Decatur High School.
Decatur’s version got a colorful twist on the standard yellow murals with three unique designs created by three different artists.
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Sharanda Wilburn, George F. Baker III and Petie Parker were each hired to design one word of the mural. The artists outlined each word before volunteers came in Saturday so that the community could paint them in paint-by-numbers-style.
"This was a community request," said city Commissioner Lesa Mayer, who led the planning effort. "A neighbor started a petition that gained quite a few signatures."
Mayer said each word addresses a particular theme. "Black" represents lives lost, "Lives" represents faces in a protest and "Matter" encourages people to vote.
Painting started at 9 a.m. and was expected to be finished at 7 p.m. Volunteers signed up for one-hour shifts.
Cox Media Group
