WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — There’s a new LGBTQ mural in the District just in time for the start of WorldPride.
It’s a colorful display on 15th Street NW, but it also adds a safety component for families.
Steady brush strokes are slowly turning regular pavement into a rainbow road.
“Everything’s coming together,” said Lisa Marie Thalhammer.
Thalhammer is the lead artist with a mission to “just bring joy and color and creativity into the community.”
It’s part of the WorldPride celebrations just getting underway in D.C., funded by the Capital Pride Alliance.
“This is a really special time for the city, and we really… want to celebrate,” Thalhammer said. “We don’t want to shy away from showing our colors and celebrating who we are and being visible.”
More than 100 volunteers are helping to visually separate the space between parked cars and the bike lane.
Thalhammer said as far as she knows, it’s the longest LGBTQ mural that’s ever been created, stretching all the way from O Street NW up to V Street NW.
“So many bikers are saying thank you. Thank you for making this bike lane safer. And I think safety is a really important part of this project,” Thalhammer said.
“It’s stunning. Like I walked by and just put a big smile on my face. I like how they’ve separated here at, like, a stop sign, so there’s not as much crisscross,” said Nicholas Field, who was visiting from New York City.
The project also features eight LGBTQ artists, including Mx Mundy.
“The piece is called We Exist. Recently, our administration has literally said that non-binary people and people that live outside the binary gender don’t exist. And that doesn’t mean we just poof and disappear,” Mundy said. “But also, there is so much joy and celebration in knowing who you are. And that is what I wanted to express in this piece.”
The artists wanted to keep the project under wraps until it was almost done for fear the Trump administration would somehow squash the project.
Mundy said their piece and the entire project is about bringing joy to others.
“This person walked by the other day and they were like, ‘you know, I’m from a small town, and this just makes me so happy,'” Mundy said. “I said, I want you to look at this piece. I want everyone to look at this piece and know that they are seen and that they are safe.”
