Pride mural takes over Huntington intersection

HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) — All across the country, cities paint their crosswalks rainbow colors to show their support for Pride Month. But, one local artist took things a step further this weekend with their mural on the intersection of 4th Avenue and 10th Street in Huntington, WV.

With the help of over 100 volunteers and Huntington Pride, Sassa Wilkes brought his design to life in the middle of the intersection, featuring not only painted crosswalks, but a giant rainbow gemstone to go along with it.

Wilkes said that a gemstone was the perfect symbol to represent not only the LGBTQ+ community, but the city of Huntington as a whole.

“I wanted something that said specifically, ‘Huntington.’ I love the Jewel City name, I think Huntington should lean into that because it’s super cool. So, I wanted to do a big gem stone. As I learned when mapping out the drawing of it, a gemstone is symmetrical in some way and really organized in some ways,” Wilkes said. “Within the larger shapes there’s just a chaos of patterns and colors and textures, and I feel like that represents the city. It’s organized, you got to have to have a good structure underneath it, but within that, everyone’s completely different.”

Spanning from Friday evening into Saturday afternoon, work on the project took around 11 hours to complete. Wilkes said that he hopes his art sends out a welcoming message to the LGBTQ+ community and everyone who sees it.

“This says to our community that we are welcome here, I think that’s the most important thing about it. We are not always given the impression that we’re welcome in a lot of places, and this is a huge beacon, a symbol, that we’re welcome here, and it stands for everybody,” Wilkes said.

The City of Huntington kept the streets closed to allow volunteers to work on the piece safely. Although the mural was finished yesterday, the street remained closed to allow citizens to safely view the project up close and take their own pictures in the center of the gemstone.

Wilkes went on to say that the response from viewers has been overwhelmingly positive, and that he was brought to tears the first time he saw the finished product.

“I had a hard time leaving last night and I don’t want to leave now. It turned out way better than I thought it would. The first time I saw the aerial view of it, when it really started to sparkle like a gemstone I just started crying,” Wilkes said. “I’m blown away by how it looks, and I’m blown away by the positive response and the way people have interacted with it already. It’s just incredible.”

The mural will serve as the centerpiece for the for the upcoming Pride Festival in the Fall.

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