A new mural was unveiled in Midtown on Wednesday, one that a Harrisburg artist hopes will bring awareness to celebrating black lives in the community.
Residents gathered during the dinner hour to celebrate the unveiling of the mural followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The mural, located at 928 James St. by the Exxon gas station parking lot on a three-story building, took three weeks to paint.
Professional artist and creator of the mural, Bryan “King Prolifik” Hickman began volunteering with Sprocket Mural Works in August for the Mulberry Street bridge mural project.
Jeff Copus, cofounder of Sprocket Mural Works, said the steering committee picked an artist, theme, and location for the new mural with the ultimate goal to beautify, elevate, and celebrate lives in the Harrisburg community.
“We knew that as we entered this mural festival that celebrating Black lives was something we wanted to do with our mural projects this year,” Copus said. “So we’re happy that we were able to work with Brian this year. He helped us out on the Mulberry Street bridge. But we really gave him this opportunity to shine on this big wall and to celebrate the lives we have here.”
Hickman, 31, described the ribbon-cutting ceremony as “breathtaking.”
“When I was given the duty to bring forth artwork that celebrated Black lives,” he said during his speech. “I felt like there was no other person for that opportunity belong to but me. In doing so, I had to decide what celebrating Black lives meant to me.
Hickman highlighted three important aspects to his artwork by acknowledging the past, present, and future of African Americans and the impact of African culture.
“In this piece, I celebrate the past through the fabric that’s being used as the head wrap. It pays tribute to Kente cloth, which came from Ghana around 1678,” Hickman said. “Two brothers were on a hunting journey and came across a spider weaving its web. They took this technique of weaving a web and applied to fabrics. Over time, that fabric became stronger with their practice.”
Hickman said the Africans applied color to the fabrics by using natural dyes from different trees, and those various colors represented a variety of things.
“Yellow being the color of royalty and wealth, red representing the color of blood, and green being the color of fertility and spiritual growth,” Hickman said.
The present is represented by Hickman’s “radiant muse,” Latoya Hunter. Hickman also included the meaning behind her head wrap and earrings.
“For the representation of present, I chose a Black woman. As a Black man, I felt like it was important for me to provide gratitude to the Black woman because she is the face and birth of Black culture,” he said. “She’s wearing the head wrap to represent her appreciation for where she’s from. And she’s wearing the hoop earrings as a way to signify her dominance in our culture today.”
The young girl sitting inside the hoop earring reading a book represents the future. Hickman included Hunter’s daughter in the mural as a symbol for future generations to continue bridging the gaps between African culture and the African-American culture.
The mural, located at 928 James St. by the Exxon gas station parking lot on a three-story building, took three weeks to paint.
“The youth is represented by Latoya’s daughter. In my community, the youth are the empty vessels that we pour our knowledge and legacy into so that they can carry forward,” he said. “Not only carry forward but reshape it in their image just as our ancestors broke down the raffia into strings to make their own fabric. We trust our youth with our legacy to break down our legacy and weave a new future from it. That altogether symbolizes pride represented by the fist in the head wrap.”
Sprocket Millworks recently completed its 50th mural in Harrisburg.
To get more information on future projects or to donate to Sprocket Mural Works, check out the group’s website.
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