- August 15 -23, 2020
Presented by:
Team: Kendra Azari, Malcolm Wolfdelux Procter, Kevin Snoddy (artists)
Lia Coleman, Alana Zakroczemski, Simon Budker, Brooke Cheng (organizers)
“ON THE RECORD” is a mural celebrating how black artists have shaped music over the ages. It is painted on the side of Everyday Music, a record shop in Capitol Hill. The mural shows 3 influential black musicians from different time periods, painted by and selected by local BIPOC artists. We are giving space for BIPOC artists to take up on the mural, and fill that space with musicians of color who have shaped music’s development in an enduring way. We have documented the mural’s development in a time-lapse video that will be screened on-site at the location. There will also be an online live-streamed event with an opportunity for a Q&A with all of the artists. Our mural is located at 1520 10th Ave, on the side of the Everyday Music store and across from Rancho Bravo. We hope that you take your time to see all the other incredible artwork that has been created around the area in CHOP.
Our Motivation: Two main factors have significantly driven our project: the location and time. We wanted to respect the values of the community and space in our mural, by focusing on the key themes of music and the BLM movement. First, our mural is on the side of Everyday Music, a record shop which specializes in selling records and cassettes. The fact that it is still alive in this digital era represents how important it is to people in the area to keep culture and history alive. Second, our piece is displayed in the heart of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) on the side of a long standing music store, Everyday Music. CHOP, unlike any other place in the world, is the outcome of deeply rooted emotion and a unique outlet for cultural expression around the systemic oppression of underrepresented minority communities. This is why it’s important to co-created this mural with our local communities, especially artists of color. We have secured funding, and will pass those funds along to the artists. We have secured space, and are now giving it to others to take up.
About The Title: Our mural is called “ON THE RECORD.” “Record” is a good word because not only is a record a literal “musical” record— like that of Everyday Music— but also our mural itself is a record, a timeline of musical history. You record music, you record memories, you record history. Records hold power. What is recorded is what people take as “true”. Everything else falls away with time: “Criminal record”, “slave records”. “A broken record”, I feel like a broken record, I feel like a broken record, when will society listen. “To set the record straight”, “To go on the record”. Our mural is “ON THE RECORD”, we’re here making sure that these black artists’ contributions are, in fact, written down on the record.
This project is supported, in part by a grant from 4Culture.
Ground-Level. Large parking lot can accommodate up to 30 people with social distancing.