Community mural project adds color to 1st Avenue North

Some things are better when they’re a little messy.

On Saturday, June 23, hundreds of people headed to the corner of First Avenue North and 13th Street to join a group that’s making Birmingham a little more colorful. Over the course of two hours, Redpath Creative and a group of volunteers handed out paintbrushes and offered various colors of paint for people to make their mark on the wall that read “Give me color.” 

Organizer and artist Marcus Fetch, who is also the creator of Redpath Creative and Redemptive Cycles, said for the last year and a half, he’s been trying to stir up the city’s passion for public art, especially murals.

“I feel like they add a lot of vibrancy and character to the city,” Fetch said. 

Fetch, who has created murals in Woodlawn, Avondale and downtown, said many people commented to him that contributing to the wall made the city of Birmingham more special to them, and that “they were so glad this was happening in their city.”

“I’ve had a lot of people, especially over the past two years, want to volunteer [with murals] but it’s pretty difficult because it usually requires pretty high-skilled painting, so I wanted to create an event where anyone could come out,” he said.

Although it proved difficult, Fetch said everyone was asked to not write any words or draw any specific shapes.

“Murals are supposed to represent a community as a whole, instead of individualism,” he said, which is why they painted over some names and logos.  

Fetch is hoping to do another mural, or even have a “Color Bham” series over the next few years, where he does similar projects downtown.

“As long as people keep getting excited about it, I’m sure we can do it,” he said.

Fetch said he couldn’t have done it without City Councilor Darrell O’Quinn and the city of Birmingham providing support for the project. The mural will be a permanent fixture, until the paint fades, Fetch said. 

See the mural at 1316 First Ave. N., and visit redpathcreative.com/creative to reach out about volunteering or contributing to a future color wall.