Artist creates tribute mural for community activist Sadie Roberts-Joseph

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Part of the Baton Rouge community is memorializing fallen community activist Sadie Roberts-Joseph.

One of the latest project for the Walls Project is a tribute mural for Roberts-Joseph, who was found dead in the trunk of her car in July while Hurricane Barry was approaching the Louisiana coastline.

SEE ALSO: Massive crochet mural fills exterior wall of future Arts Council of Baton Rouge

She was the founder of the Odell S. Williams African-American Museum, and had organized the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration.

Baton Rouge artist Kristen Downing designed and painted the mural on July 20 during the organization’s ReactivateBR day of service, a quarterly cleanup day along Plank Road.

The mural, located at Pawnee Street and Plank Road, depicts Roberts-Joseph surrounded by hands holding uplifting messages that read “Art Lives Forever” and “Speak.” Build Baton Rouge, formerly known as the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority, sponsored the project.

SEE ALSO: The Old South Wall by the BR Walls Project “The impact of Sadie Roberts-Joseph to our family, our community and our nation was truly a hidden jewel. We knew what Aunt Sadie stood for in our family and the impact she had on our community, but to learn that her work had reached communities globally, was phenomenal! This has inspired me to press on even more; to let the work I’ve done speak for me as well," CADAV & Walls Project - Community Outreach Director Pat McCallister-LeDuff said in a prepared statement.

The Walls Project is a nonprofit that hopes to bridge the gap between the artistic and business communities in order to beautify the city and encourage economic development.

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How street art is transforming the Baton Rouge community

Artist turns abandoned tires into art around Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE - Worn-out tires fill neighborhoods in the capital region, creating eyesores. The parish has been working on ways to remove them in its fight against blight. One man has a unique solution: turn the trash into art.

Taliesin Gilkes-Bower traveled from California to transform an empty lot at the intersection of Winbourne Ave. and Barlette St. into a pathway lined in tires. The artist partnered with The Walls Project, which aims to clean-up and beautify the city.

“I've created a meditation labyrinth, it’s based on the labyrinths that show up in Cathedrals in Europe,” said Gilkes-Bower.

The artist took the project one step further, planting flowers, food and herbs inside the tires.

“It’s pretty wonderful to take what usually is an eyesore and transform it into materials for a garden,” said Gilkes-Bower.

All of the tires used were dumped in nearby neighborhoods. It only took two days for the artist and a group of volunteers to collect more than 300 of them.

“A lot of times they just get put in abandoned lots and dead end streets,” said Gilkes-Bower.

Abandoned tires can sometimes create a hub for mosquitoes, so the Metro Council has agreed to buy a tire shredder to get rid of them. But until then, Gilkes-Bower has found an alternative solution.

“I'm in support of any sort of transformation that takes something that feels like trash and makes it into a meaningful material with value,” he said.

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