Seven Stunning New Murals in Boulder Highlight Black Artists and Culture

By Hyde Chrastina January 3, 2024

“Public art is a beautiful way for individuals to feel represented and understood.”

Seven local muralists gathered in downtown Boulder during the fall to create original works for a series called Celebrating Colorado’s Black Street Artists. The series was produced by the nonprofit arts organization Street Wise Arts in collaboration with the Museum of Boulder’s newest exhibit, Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History, which is on display through September 2025.

The muralists include Yazz Atmore, Jahna Rae, Rob Hill, Marcus Murray, Devin “Speaks” Urioste, Jasmine Holmes-Piesco and Selah Laurel. And come spring 2024, Thomas Evans (aka Detour) will join the list of accomplished artists when he paints the eighth and final mural of the series.

The collaboration between Street Wise Arts and the Museum of Boulder stemmed from a parallel trajectory by the two organizations. Street Wise was busy planning its newest mural festival, which was focused on highlighting local Black artists, while the Museum of Boulder was in the midst of its two-year project, creating an interactive, immersive, multi-disciplinary exhibit about the Black experience in Boulder. The result was a symbiotic partnership that allowed the two projects to support and promote each other while pursuing the same goal.

“I think we’ve waited far too long to talk about the historic representation and lives of Black folk who’ve been in this community, so this is an educational way to show that,” says Annett James, president of the NAACP Boulder County branch, which is also collaborating on the project. “It says what you value in your community. … We are moving in a more inclusive, progressive way, and there’s no better way to show inclusion than through art. And I think outdoor art is one place where it’s equitable, right? Because everyone gets to see it. There’s no discrimination in terms of the visual.”

The engaging murals run the gamut in terms of technique, style and content. Devin “Speaks” Urioste has been making murals for the past seven years; however, his creative roots lie in graffiti writing, which he’s been doing for nearly seventeen years. “Graffiti is what got my heart,” he says. “As a muralist, I am trying to build a bridge between my graffiti community and mural community. There are a lot of misconceptions on both ends, and a diverse set of politics. I myself am still exploring the mural realm with a graffiti writer’s perspective and morals.”

“Astro,” by Marcus Murray (left), and “Perspective,” by Devin “Speaks” Urioste (right), at the Root of the Hill (1121 Broadway, Boulder).

Peter KowalchuckUrioste’s unique blend of skills is apparent in his mural “Perspective,” a captivating collage of various symbols and representations of Black culture, both societal and personal to him. “Black history is American history, and history repeats itself,” he says. “Even if you do not see the old, you will always see it in the new. Everything I paint and create is a direct connection to those who taught me, those who taught them, and so forth.”

Connecting to history is also important to artist Jahna Rae. “Ancestry, heritage and history play a major role in my work, because it helps me understand myself while also helping me to connect with people of similar backgrounds and experience,” she explains.

Rae has made art her entire life, but it wasn’t until 2021 that she painted her first mural, for the Babe Walls mural festival in Arvada. Since then, she has impressively completed fourteen murals; the dazzling “Dream State,” which she did for the current Boulder series, is her most recent.

“My favorite part of mural-making is the way that it makes the community come together,” says Rae. “It creates an accessible way for people to enjoy art and connect with the artist’s message. I think public art is a beautiful way for individuals to feel represented and understood.”

Such aspects of community and representation are at the center of Street Wise Arts’ mission and values. Since its founding in 2019, the nonprofit has produced mural series and festivals, hosted community events and created youth education programs that all center around a mix of art and activism. Through these projects, Street Wise aims to build community, promote social justice and advance both equity in the arts and representation for artists.

“I love this about art in general, but murals specifically — you see them, and it’s a point of connection,” says executive director Leah Brenner Clack. “You feel something, you have an emotional response and curiosity, and you want to know more. There are so many layers that can be experienced, and so we try to give opportunities for people to go deeper with that.”

There are a number of ways to view and experience the new murals, from a digital tour on the Street Wise Arts website to donation-based walking tours, bike tours and even private tours that can be customized for a group. Each one provides the opportunity to learn more about the artists, the stories behind the murals and the themes and causes addressed in each installation.

Brenner Clack recommends ending the tour at the Museum of Boulder — where murals by Yazz Atmore, Jasmine Holmes-Piesco and Selah Laurel are located — and then continuing your educational journey by walking through Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History.

“I like the play on art outside and art inside, because Black artists being on museum walls has a lot of work to do,” says James. “We always think if you’re on the wall, you matter. So it’s a matter of just bringing it all together.”

“History has the potential to help us understand ourselves differently and understand each other differently, and in doing so, we can be intentional about the community we create,” says Emily Zinn, director of education at the Museum of Boulder and project manager for Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History. “My hope is that the museum can help to give this knowledge a platform, give these leaders a platform, give Black perspectives a platform. … I think it has the potential to create lasting change.”

Award-winning researcher and author Adrian Miller, the exhibit’s co-project director and lead curator, will offer a guided tour of the exhibit on Saturday, January 20, at noon, followed by an in-depth panel discussion with muralists Atmore, Rae, Hill, Murray and Urioste at 1:30 p.m.

“As a woman of color, I often have a desire to feel a sense of belonging, especially in a predominantly white state,” says Rae. “We want people to know we’re here, that we break stereotypes and that we want our stories to be heard. This is why I love painting portraits. It’s the quickest way for viewers to understand an important message, because they can see themselves or a lesson reflected in the work. My hope in bringing Black art to Boulder is that it breaks judgmental and unsympathetic ways of thinking about POC.”

“I do not believe that this mural series and museum will immediately impact Boulder in the ways that it should,” admitsUrioste. “But hopefully it opens up the doors for more Black artists and diverse artists in general to express themselves in Boulder, so that people may learn more about these identities that surround them.

“The one thing you can do for us is give us a platform to teach our own stories and keep these platforms consistent, so that every perspective is represented and those nuances stay relevant,” he continues. “Thank you to Street Wise for giving us the opportunity and platform to speak for ourselves. That is the work that needs to be done.”

“I think the biggest challenge for Black people in Boulder is to be a perpetual guest,” concludes James. “I think that these murals and this exhibit highlight that we’re not guests — we’re owners. We have all the privileges and responsibilities of any community member, and we own that and we want that. It’s an opportunity to say, ‘We’re proud of this, we’re proud of our history here, we’re proud of our history throughout the country.’ And this is a nice way to share it.”

Tour with Adrian Miller, noon, and muralist panel discussion, 1:30 p.m., Saturday, January 20, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder. Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History is open through September 2025. 

This article was originally published by Westword.