Local muralist honors Black leaders in downtown Phoenix mural

Tato Caraveo is a local muralist and artist. We talked with him about the “Black History Month Mural Project.” It features 28 murals in downtown Phoenix Each of the murals features three notable black figures. Caraveo worked on a mural as well. He talks about his mural. It features Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey P. Newton. He made the Malcolm X portrait and worked with two other artists on the mural.

Caraveo talks about how he got involved and how the other artists contributed to the mural for involved. Caraveo’s historical figure was Malcolm X and Caraveo got to choose him. He said he did a lot of research and reading in Malcolm X. He also said growing up and hearing about Malcolm X made him drawn to him. This project made Caraveo want to be involved in it because of what is going on in the country right now.

Caraveo wants people to see the people in the wall and do so reading and research on the figure. He hopes that it inspires them to find out who they really are. This is an opportunity for people to learn a little bit more about black history. Caraveo compares his experience to his previous mural experiences. This mural was a realistic portrait. Most of his work is not political, except for one he did on gun violence. He talks about what was challenging about painting the mural.