November 18, 2020

Artworks Unveils Black Lives Matter Mural

BLACK LIVES MATTER: This collaborative four-panel mural can be found on the side of the Artworks main gallery building at 19 Everett Alley in downtown Trenton.

Artworks, Trenton’s visual arts center, has unveiled a collaborative four-panel mural in solidarity with the goals of justice and racial equity advanced by the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.

Each panel is executed in a black and white palette by a different artist, based on their interpretation of images taken by Trenton photographer Habiyb Shu’Aib during the summer Black Lives Matter protests in Trenton. The artists are Quentin “Kwenci” Jones, Jonathan “Lank” Conner, and Roy Haynes, all of Trenton, and Andre Trenier of Bronx, New York. The panels were framed into a cohesive whole, with lettering, by Trenton artist Wills Kinsley. 

“At a time when our nation is in the throes of change, we at Artworks wanted Trenton residents to have their own public artistic expression of solidarity with the goals of justice and racial equity advanced by the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Artworks Executive Director Lauren Otis. “We knew that expression could best be executed by the talented artists in our midst, particularly Black artists. I knew they would create something memorable. What they have executed is beyond compare, strong, beautiful, unflinching, yet filled with hope, a call to action, and a call for change.”

The public mural is installed on the side of the Artworks main gallery building at 19 Everett Alley in downtown Trenton. Funding for the project came from the I Am Trenton Community Foundation and ContentTrenton, in addition to Artworks funds designated for public art projects.