WASHINGTON — It appears the massive bright yellow 35-foot-tall Black Lives Matter street mural painted on Black Lives Matter Plaza located in a section of 16th Street in D.C. is gone. However, the now-empty street is only temporary, according to the mayor's office.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's office told WUSA9 that the mural would indeed be repainted "sometime this week" but could not confirm an exact date. Bowser told the Washington Post on May 6 that the city was working to make the street art a more permanent installation.
“We are going to make that installation, and we’re improving it actually right now, and it will be a permanent art installation in the District,” Bowser told the Post Monday.
Pepco announced in April that it would be performing some underground construction projects requiring excavation.
"Pepco will be performing critical work along Black Lives Matter Plaza, beginning April 12, 2021," Pepco said in a press release on April 5. "The work, which includes the installation of new underground electric infrastructure, such as new conduit and a new manhole, will last four to six weeks, weather permitting, and will require excavation along 16th Street, NW between K and H streets. Pepco recognizes the significance of Black Lives Matter Plaza to the District and the nation, and is working closely with the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) as part of an effort to coordinate upgrades along the Plaza with minimal impacts for the public and local businesses."
Black Lives Matter D.C. took to Twitter to make a comment about the removal of the art installation saying, "@MayorBowser’s BLM performance has come to a close and set strike completed. We now return to her regularly scheduled performances."
The mural was painted on a section of 16th Street near the White House by a group of artists during injustice protests across the nation and D.C. following the death of George Floyd.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in June of 2020 that the art was painted as a way to combat graffiti in the city. She said the city reached out to artists through the District's Mural program.
Black Lives Matter Plaza has since been a place where residents gather for social justice movements and protests for change. Most recently, residents gathered along the street to celebrate the verdict of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the fatal death of George Floyd.