Four-year-old Unique is like every little girl — she has a big, pink Minnie Mouse backpack and loves to put barrettes in her hair. Now, she’s the face of a large mural in D.C.
Renowned Los Angeles artist El Mac was commissioned to paint the side of the new Department of Housing headquarters on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Southeast as part of the city’s graffiti abatement program.
El Mac said he chose Unique from the other children he photographed at Savoy Elementary School because she stood out.
“I photographed so many kids there,” he told Unique’s mom, Sharon Lynch. But after going through all the pictures, “We kept coming back to Unique.”
Lynch said while she signed a consent form at the school, she had no idea her daughter was chosen for this project until Thursday when her sister “took a picture of it and she was like, ‘this looks like your baby.'”
She said she lives two blocks away and plans on passing by the mural every day.
“It means so much to me,” Lynch added. “I knew I named her Unique for a reason. Something told me she would be so different, so pretty, so amazing.”
Unique said she liked the mural a lot. Her younger brother, 3-year-old Tae’shaun, said he wants one of himself, too.
El Mac said he hopes when people see the mural, which isn’t yet complete, “it can hopefully offer some sort of sense of the love that went into it, and that people can connect with it in that way.”
“Because these murals really take a lot of heart and soul, I put a lot of love into them,” he added.
Another MuralsDC project by local artist Eric B. Ricks is in the works, several blocks away outside the Savoy Elementary School building.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
