Artist Deontā Allen is quick with the spray paint on an exterior wall at King Elementary School on Florida Street. Yellow appears in bursts, filling out the black outline of the school’s mascot, a bald eagle. He refers to a sketch on his phone as he works. Another burst of color. Paint solvents in the air tickle the nostrils as the expansive mural slowly takes shape.
“I learned all this on the fly,” Allen said. “Working here in person, I may change things based on the wall’s texture.”
The mural is an arrangement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s portrait and the words of his famous speech, “I have a Dream,” superimposed on a brilliant morning sky. The eagle hovers above billowy clouds concealing a mountain top. The painting is Allen’s largest so far, funded by a Richmond Arts & Culture Commission grant. Every Sunday for six weeks in the spring, Allen painted the mural, which was dedicated at the school’s sixth-grade graduation ceremony earlier this month.
Celeste Beal, MLK Jr.’s grandniece, spoke at the dedication. She encouraged the students to hold onto their dreams, focus on building their characters and work together to make the world a better place. Her granduncle, for whom the school is named, was a friend of the Rev. Booker T. Anderson of Easter Hill United Methodist Church on Cutting Boulevard. Dr. King spoke at Easter Hill during the Civil Rights era.
Beal, who lives in Atlanta, said she wants to continue her family’s legacy of engagement in Richmond. She is in early talks with West Contra Costa County school board trustee Otheree Christian to create a program that encourages Richmond schoolchildren to empower themselves and “build pathways to hope,” she told Richmondside.
Muralist led Black Lives Matter Civic Center project
Allen, 35, was born and raised in Richmond. He attended King Elementary, as did many of his cousins, aunts and uncles. He still lives in Richmond with his 4-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
“There is a ton of potential in Richmond,” he said. “I am raising my kids here and want them to see art. I want to change the narrative.”
In May, one section of the work-in-progress mural, a dark cloud beneath the eagle, appeared to certain sixth-graders, King Elementary’s principal Helene Burks told the artist, like the bird was passing wind as it took flight.
“I love how kids think,” Allen chuckled. “So much imagination.”
When finished, the colorful bird was transformed, flying away from the past’s darkness, into the sky of Allen’s dreams. The flight represents a triumph over adversity and brings to mind another Allen project: the Black Lives Matter mural painted on Nevin Avenue at Richmond’s Civic Center.
In 2020, a few hundred volunteers helped Allen and Richmond Revolution, a community nonprofit, paint the street mural in response to a national anti-police brutality movement. He designed the unique blocky font by hand, calling it “DALLEN FUTURE.”
Though he’s been painting in acrylic on canvas for years, it wasn’t until businesses were shut down during the pandemic that Allen ventured into public murals. The Black Lives Matter project was his first major public work. That project pushed Allen to earn a second degree, in graphic design, from the Dominican University of California. He first went to college to study criminal justice to become a probation officer. But his creative calling was strong, and he began formal art training.
He supports his family as a park ranger for the East Bay Regional Park District and hopes to find a graphic design job. There’s an art scene here, Allen said, that could turn the city into a tourist attraction, but local artists need support in addition to the grants offered by the city.
“I want the city of Richmond to create a space where street artists can thrive, a space for aspiring artists,” he said. “It could be a great gateway for the youth who are creative. We can create a specific reason for people to come here: abundant public art.”
A bid to create the Richmond Arts Corridor
To that end, Richmond Renaissance, a group of local artists, former art commissioners and art managers, recently won support from the Richmond City Council to create the Richmond Arts Corridor.
Former city Arts and Culture Manager and the group’s advisor, Michele Seville, said the proposed corridor on Macdonald Avenue will feature community-driven artwork in store fronts, open studios, cultural events and murals.
“Our group came up with the idea and asked the City Council for a grant,” Seville said. “Now we are waiting for the city’s decision on who will manage the corridor.”
The venture received $250,000 from the city to develop a master plan, and the group is seeking donors to fully fund the multi-million dollar project.
“I want the city of Richmond to create a space where street artists can thrive, a space for aspiring artists. It could be a great gateway for the youth who are creative.”
— Richmond artist Deontā Allen
At the June 3 King graduation and mural dedication, Allen stood before his mural and spoke to the students and their families and teachers. He explained that the colorful background of his new piece was inspired by all the life he witnessed at the school — the energetic students, the dedicated faculty. Inspiration can come every day, he told the students, and with practice, they too can make their dreams come true.
“I want you to feel you can do this because you can,” he said. “It’s all totally possible.”
