June 19, 2020

This block was based on an interview (transcript below) with Rob Gray, founder of the Black Love Mural Festival in the Denver metro area. It was conducted on Sept 9, 2023 as an initial part of our Story Network. Deepti Mahesh illustrated his story, which was converted into a pattern stitched by Heather Schulte on the June 19, 2020 section of the third panel in this project.

[Heather Schulte] Alright. So if you'll just say your name and spell it and then we'll start.

[Robert Gray] Okay. My name is Robert Gray. R-O-B-E-R-T-G-R-A-Y.

[H] Alright, cool. Okay, so Robert. The main question I've been asking people in general is what was your experience of the pandemic like? You can be as broad or as specific as you wish to be.

[R] It was a... Honestly, it was a mix of emotions. There was a lot of ups and downs, but overall, the pandemic was a time that gave me a lot of opportunity to do artistic things. Since art was deemed something that didn't gather people and could happen still publicly outside, we received a boost in at least certain clients and accounts in an artistic way. We were still looking to keep their venue going by doing a pop-up art exhibit outside or doing murals in a park.

At first it was, everything was shut down, it wasn't a lot going on, but eventually as people started getting creative and trying to figure out how to, like, make this time a little bit easier

on everyone, there was a need for people to execute and I was one of the people who saw

opportunity and created a plan to execute it. So I was able to stay busy and be inspired and make great opportunity for others, which I'm still benefiting from today.

[H] And so you did you establish the Black mural...?

[R] The Black Love Mural Festival. I established it during the pandemic. The riots were happening in downtown Denver. And Civic Center Park is like a, really, a voice because it's right between the state capitals and the mayor's building. So a lot of protests was happening down there and a lot of vandalism graffiti was going on and a lot of riots and things like that were happening. And a lot of Black people were getting blamed for these things that were going on. So because of the things that were going on, I wanted to do the best I can to also be the solution since the Black people were being [blamed], kind of the face of the problem.

I historically did park cleanup in the neighborhood and like Elyria and Swansea area just giving

back to the neighborhood, helped clean up their parks.

So, and with my reputation, not reputation, but with my experience working in the cannabis industry, I moved out here and I was a bud tender. I had experience and I knew people in the cannabis industry. And one of them hit me up to clean up a park at Civic Center Park. And since they knew this was something that I did anyway, they knew I was someone who would like to advocate for Black rights. They hit me up and asked me if I could join. It was Veritas Cannabis. So they asked me to help them out with this park cleanup. I assembled my crew, brought a bunch of friends out, had a friend, Lindee Zimmer, do a live painting. We said Black Lives Matter. It was very organic. It was just a piece of eight foot by four foot plywood that was put up on a flagpole. And we just went and cleaned up the park.

Ended up seeing, as someone I know, Lawrence, who works with Parks and Rec, and often is my partner, contactin' with Clean the Parks. And he thought it was cool what I was doin’. He introduced me to Scott Gilmore, a director of [Denver] Parks and Rec, and I pitched him this idea that I was doing-- with that eight foot by four foot plywood wall on that light pole--that I can extend that and put three more walls around that that flag pole and do that same structure around the monuments and statues to reduce the vandalism and unwanted you know vandalism and sayings and things that were put on the statues and monuments to help the city save costs and save money, but also to give Black voices a way to feel represented and seen and it would be a win-win for both parties. He thought it was a great idea. He ran over and introduced me to the mayor within five minutes of the conversation.

The mayor just had a very basic, "Oh, nice to meet you, X, Y, and Z." Scott told me he sent him a proposal and he green-lit it and gave me permission to start building and execute this mural festival that was built organically in the midst of the pandemic. So yeah, that's a pretty basic, genuine story.

[H]- That's really cool. I've find that a common theme among, especially projects that have started in the pandemic, there's this organic growth, just like kind of following the path

that just shows up in front of you, but there's obviously some, uh, initiative that has to be taken too.

What is something you've learned during the pandemic, whether it's through the Black Love Mural Festival or--

[R] That you have to be fluid, and you have to be able to adjust, and you have to be able to pivot quickly. To trust your gut instinct. And those are the two.

[H] And what's something that you hope

that other people or society at large can learn from this time?

[R] What I was trying to push with the Black Love Mural Festival is to just celebrate the appreciation and love for Black people. I feel everyone has a Black person they love. They might not be their best friend, but they have someone whether it's like Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, Kobe Bryant, whether it's, you know, Deion Sanders over at CU Boulder. You might not have a best friend or someone close or a relative who's Black, but there might be someone that you've ran across or seen and you was like, I love what that guy got going on.

I love that woman's voice. So just those small acts of love, and then they can take that and expand upon it.

Once that seed is planted, maybe that takes away a little bit of the bigotry, the hatred, the, you know, just sometimes the thoughts that our program in our head are bringing, you know, that your grandmother might not have thought kindly of certain people from her experiences, and she might've passed that down, or a certain language might've been used in the older households,

And, you know, just that love that you have for that one Black person or that one hip hop song that you like that's on the radio that has a catchy beat, maybe that's enough for you, to like,

"Maybe everything that I heard wasn't true,” or, "maybe I'm gonna do an extra little research

and get to know someone who I normally wouldn’t have that conversation with.” So just spreading that love organically, trying to be the solution that you wanna see in the community and not just focusing on all the problems.

[H] Yeah, yeah, that's great.

How can people find you, support your project, support the Black Love Mural Festival, that kind of thing?

[R] The best way is Instagram, is for the Black Love Mural Festival. We're working on a website and we're working on, you know, legitimizing a lot of things that happenend so organically. We did a lot of the organization and things through our already established LLCs in IRLart, which is my best friend and business partner. We use all their walls and all her assets that she had to really make it happen. It was my idea, but she helped me execute it and put a lot of sweat equity and a lot of time energy and her research and connections into the project.

[H] That was IRL art?

[R] Yeah, as 'In Real Life Art' ran by Annie Phillips. So she was a big help and inspiration and she's a white woman from Arkansas, so I consider her a co-founder of the mural festival and I really wouldn't be without her.

You can tell we highlight Black artists and prioritize Black artists. We’ve also had a lot of help from the community who, backgrounds are very diverse. The walls that were built were built by

Took and AJ and Elvis a lot of people who are artists and creatives in the industry. And they just wanted to support and help out and do what they can and bring what they can.

You know it's to advocate for the Black voices, and I appreciate those people. So I never wanted to, even though we focus on Black creatives--this isn't to put anyone else down. This is a community-based event that is just highlighting this small minority group for a small time, so.

This is really a community-built festival and there's a lot of people who are helping out behind the scenes to make it bigger and better than what it is today.

[H] Cool, and is there a way people can like, financially support y'all?

[R] Uh, it is.

[H] I'm just trying to like...

[R] Yeah, we don't have like any merch or anything available. We don't have like a dedicated Venmo or anything for that. But if they want to reach out, they can send me an email and we can figure out something. I like to barter and exchange services so if someone wants something, it's like art that we can commission for them or get something created. They can buy a print at the gallery or they can buy a mural after it's completed at one of the events.

So there's no t-shirts or hoodies or hats or anything that anyone can buy at this moment.

We have posters, but we sold out. We had a gofundme, but that ended to pay everyone.

So as of right now, there's no direct way to send money to. But if they reach out to me at rob@irlart.com, they can send me an email and say they want to support. And I will find different ways, whether it's having an artist do a mural in their house or buying a print from one of the contributing artists, we'll figure out some way to get them involved.

[H] Cool. That's awesome.

[R] Thank you.

[H] And what are your plans for the future?

[R] Uh… Ooh. I don't know.

[H] Even if it's just hopes and dreams?

[R] My goal is to get more Black creatives into museums and elevate their skills in the contemporary art world, to expand their resources and connections and to make sure they have everything they need to be successful. How I'm going to get that done, it might...

I don't know yet. I'm going through a lot right now with the people who are involved right now and working on improvements.

So I don't know exactly when we're going to get there or how we're going to get there. But I like to have faith that it will always continue and there are, plenty of opportunities, not just at the Black Love Mural Festival, but support your local Black friend in any way that you can. And just support your friends overall and support all minority groups. I believe everyone deserves to be highlighted, whether it's women, whether it's the LGBTQ community, whether it's the Latinx community. Everyone deserves their time to shine, to be uplifted, and to have their day or week or whatever it may be.

So it's to support everyone. I think it's okay for people to have their individual days where you support them, just like you celebrate turkeys on Thanksgiving. Same with pumpkins on Halloween. It's not all year you like celebrating pumpkins and putting pumpkins on your front porch, but for a little bit, it's okay. It makes them feel special. It makes the people feel special.

So I think to support everyone and not just Black artists or Black creatives, I do like to prioritize them for certain events, but overall, support your friends, support people you care for, uplift underprivileged people, give them opportunities, and it just makes it fun for everyone when you can get a diverse set of opinions, art, creativity, and I believe that sometimes it takes uplifting others.

[Those] who are in the position of privilege as yourself, not yourself directly, but I have a position of privilege, 'cause I have a lot of experience in the art world, so I have connections and I have access to certain things that some people don't. So I like try to uplift those people in different minority groups and use my connections to help them out and benefit them in any way. So there's several ways to do that.

[H] Yeah, cool.

Is there anything else that you can think of that you'd like to share?

[R] m-mm.

[H] Alright, cool.

I don't have anything particular else that I can think of to ask.

But I'd love to chat with you in general.

[R] Heck yeah.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBR7WhWnzjR/ (irlart announcement of first BLMFest)

https://www.westword.com/arts-culture/the-black-love-mural-festival-takes-over-civic-center-park-11725356/

https://denverite.com/2020/09/12/an-all-black-mural-group-fights-for-their-place-at-crush-walls-and-in-the-broader-art-world/

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/black-baseball-mural-jackie-robinson-hank-aaron-willie-mays/