A mural dedication honoring Breonna Taylor in Annapolis, Maryland, was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday, but was postponed by the city amid concerns that the crowd size would be too large to maintain social distancing.
“In keeping with the City’s cooperation with County Executive Order #27 which prohibits outdoor gatherings of more than 50 people, the Breonna Taylor Ground Mural dedication has been postponed,” the event’s organizers, Future History Now, said in a Facebook post. “It will be rescheduled when it is safe to do so and ALL can be included.”
Artists, activists and community leaders in partnership with the Banneker-Douglass Museum and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture hoped to use the mural dedication to honor Breonna Taylor’s life.
The 7,000 square-foot ground painting of Taylor’s portrait with the words “Black Lives Matter” on the bottom, can be seen from space through satellite imagery.
The goal of the mural is intended as a peaceful and artistic way to encourage an end to systemic racism.
In addition to honoring the 26-year-old emergency medical technician, the dedication was going to feature leaders within the Chambers Park community, and an awards ceremony.
Taylor was fatally shot when police officers burst into her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation on March 13.
The warrant to search her home was in connection with a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found.
Activists have been calling on authorities to arrest the officers involved in the killing.
The commissioned painting was led by six artists from Future History Now, a program that works with youth in underserved communities.
The project was completed in the historically Black neighborhood on July 5, with the help of the Greater Parole Community Association, Chambers Park, The City Of Annapolis, Mayor Gavin Buckley, the Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department and community donations.
