A new large-scale Juneteenth mural is set to become a local icon in its southeast Washington, D.C. neighborhood.
The mural, created in partnership between Absolute Equality and Capital One, was completed this month at Thurgood Marshall Academy, in Washington, D.C.
Visitors can look for the mural on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE and Howard Street, facing the street on the south side of the campus.
The design features an orange-yellow background, fireworks, iconic places and a depiction of Frederick Douglass.
Douglass, who made his home in Anacostia in 1877, was an important leader of the movement for African American civil rights in the 19th century, according to the National Park Service.
Douglass himself is quoted in the mural in white text, which reads, “Truth is proper and beautiful in all times and in all places.”
The mural was created by artist Reginald C. Adams. Adams is a full-time artist and the founder of Absolute Equality. He creates public art projects with the goal of unifying communities and beautifying neighborhoods as part of Absolute Equality’s public arts initiative. Capital One Café Ambassadors from the Anacostia location volunteered time to help paint the mural.
This is the third consecutive year that Capital One has sponsored the public art initiative, which works to inspire community engagement around racial justice and spotlight important points in history while involving local artists and community leaders. The other murals in this series will be installed in Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California and Atlanta, Georgia.
Last year, the partnership helped produce murals in Houston and Dallas, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan and Miami, Florida.
Learn more about Absolute Equality and the artist behind it online at absoluteequality.org.
