Beverly's Black Lives Matter Mural To Relocate To Library

BEVERLY, MA — A Black Lives Matter mural created by Amanda Beard Garcia as part of the Beverly Main Streets revolving artist program will be unveiled at the Beverly Public Library next month where it will remain as a public display.

Beverly Main Streets donated the banner that Garcia created as a statement following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

"As a Beverly native and artist of color, it was important to me to support Black Lives in a way I knew how: to visually voice 'We're with you,'" Garcia said, "to make a commitment to our community to listen, learn, grow and take action and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

"While my painted mural was expected to be temporary, I'm grateful that it will find a new home at the library as a reminder that there is always more work to be done."

The Lindsey Building Condo Association permitted Beverly Main Streets to locate a rotating art gallery on a fence on the property located between their building and Atomic Cafe. The plan was to commission a new mural every three months as part of a downtown revival.

In the summer of 2020, Garcia painted her mural on the same day as the Beverly High alumni Black Lives Matter Walk as a symbol of the attention being given nationally to social justice and racial equity pursuits.

Because of the ongoing significance of the message, Beverly Main Streets and Lindsey donated the fence to the downtown branch of the Beverly Public Library where it will "continue to be representative of the city's commitment to racial equity."

“The Beverly Public Library strives to be a safe and welcoming place for everyone," Beverly Library Director Allison Babin said. "The library has always offered more than books; it is also a center for arts and culture and community engagement. We are honored to be the recipient of this special mural.

"Displaying this piece in the library makes it accessible to all, in a space that encourages dialogue and connections among our community. We hope all community members will visit and take advantage of all the library has to offer."

The original fence will be replaced with a red fence with a plaque letting residents and visitors know where they can find the mural. Beverly Main Streets has also worked with local institutions and businesses on a banner with the mural image so that the message will continue to "have a visual impact in the time when the fence is removed."

"For much of our country's history, the US Constitution, our laws, and people in positions of power have devalued the lives of Black Americans," Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said. "By words and actions, our government and our society have long said that Black lives do not matter. We must acknowledge the wrongs of our country's past and embrace the truth, so basic and self-evident, that Black lives do matter.

"In Beverly and everywhere, the lives of our Black friends, families, and neighbors have the same value and worth, and matter, in the same way, as do the lives of everyone. This beautiful, important mural clearly expresses this truth."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)