Black Lives Matter mural set for street repaving, Cultural Trail expansion

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue is being paved over as part of a plan to expand the Cultural Trail.

Artists worked in collaboration with the Cultural Trail to find the best way to honor the artwork.

Although the mural as it sits now will be gone soon, for many of the artists the mural did what it was supposed to do: create space to talk about the issues and work to solve them.

Over time, the color in the Black Lives Matter mural has lost its vibrancy, but its meaning, artist Jarrod Dortch said, is stronger now.

“Personally, my biggest goal was to create something that was going to get people thinking and talking,” Dortch said.

As Indiana and the country exploded with protests around justice and police brutality during summer 2020, the mural was a conversation starter … and not always the good kind, as evidenced by the vandalism dropped on it.

“I think also with the climate of cultural change here in the city, particularly in the arts community, I think, in itself as an art piece, it’s something that the city and the members of our community wanted to hold onto,” he said.

These are the final days people will see it as it sits now. The street will be repaved and the Cultural Trail will be expanded, working to better connect Indiana’s downtown culture on Indiana Avenue and South Street.

Trail executive director Kären Haley said that “better connecting to the Indiana Avenue Cultural District was one of our goals. It’s where we had the smallest part of Cultural Trail to begin with.”

On Saturday, crews closed the road giving the 18 artists, the 18 Art Collective, and the community a chance to see it whole one more time.

“For us, it was really important to give the community space and time to be with mural before construction happens so we were able to work with the city, the mural organizers and our contractors to really do that,” Haley said.

When construction does begin a piece of each letter will be saved and given to the 18 artists.

Dortch said, “I think the initial process, you can’t get back that feeling again, and I think that it did serve its purpose.”

Construction could start next week; it will take roughly two years to complete the trail expansion.

More collaboration will be done later to honor the mural on Indiana Avenue.