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Street Wise Arts
  • About
    • About Street Wise Arts
    • Board & Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
  • Murals
    • Community Murals
    • Youth Murals
    • 2024 Festival
    • 2023 Festival
    • 2022 Festival
    • 2021 Festival
    • 2020 Festival
    • 2019 Festival
  • Programs
    • Mural Festival
    • Arts Education
    • Community Programs
    • Mural Tours
  • Opportunities
    • Call for Walls
    • Join the Board of Directors
    • Call for Teaching Artists
    • Call for Artists: Artist Roster
    • Internships
  • Events
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press
    • Youtube
  • Map
  • Donate

Marcus Murray

“Astro”

Location: The Root of the Hill

1121 Broadway Boulder, CO 80302

2023 Fall Mural Series

Photos by Peter Kowalchuk and Dona Laurita

Denver-based artist Marcus Murray takes great inspiration from Afrofuturism. This social, political, and artistic movement imagines a future in which people of African descent play a central role in creating that world. Afrofuturism centers Black history and culture to examine the past, question the present, and imagine an optimistic future. ⁠

In “Astro,” Marcus illustrates a young Black astronaut. Set against a cosmic purple background, the woman gazes about with wonder at the stars that surround her. The artist draws inspiration from “Lovecraft Country,” a science fiction book turned TV show. The character Diana Freeman constantly draws her own comic book that features a Black space-faring adventurer. ⁠

A large component of Afrofuturism is representation. As a young Black girl, Diana witnessed the racism of the scientific world that denied the contributions of Black people. Her comics reveal an inclusive world that allows someone who looks like her to venture into outer space. Marcus’s mural brings that representation to a larger scale. ⁠

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