Large mural of Breonna Taylor being painted in historically Black neighborhood in Maryland

Parole, a historically Black suburb of Annapolis, Md., will soon be the site of a large mural of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who was fatally shot by police in her home in Kentucky earlier this year.

According to The Capitol Gazette, the mural of Taylor, which also will feature the phrase “Black Lives Matter” along with her date of birth and death, is expected to span 7,000-square feet across several basketball courts at Chambers Park, with creators aiming to make it visible from space.

The Banneker-Douglass Museum of Annapolis, which was once known as the Mt. Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church, said in a Facebook post that it is partnering on the mural with Future History Now, a nonprofit that has organized similar past efforts with youths in underserved communities.

The museum also confirmed it is teaming up with young local residents and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture on the project.

Muralist Jeff Huntington, who co-founded Future History Now along with his wife and artist Julia Gibb in 2016, told the Gazette that he is expecting up to 40 artists and volunteers to help out with the painting of the mural this weekend.  

The project comes more than three months after the death of Taylor, who was 26 years old when she was fatally shot by police who arrived at her home in Louisville in the middle of the night to execute a no-knock warrant as part of a drug case. Taylor, an EMT, was shot eight times that night.

No drugs were uncovered at her home, and no charges have been filed against the police officers involved.

Her death, along with the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans, have fueled widespread protests against racism and police treatment of people of color.

Future History Now says the mural project “is not intended to be a performative distraction from real policy changes, but rather a form of using peaceful and artistic means to express distress, giving a voice to those who need to be heard and to have their humanity recognized.” 

“We want our future leaders to experience this pivotal moment in history in an active and positive way,” the group added.