Project: Black Art Speaks

Helping uplift Black voices as students gain experience in urban planning and zoning, community engagement and product development.

group of more than a dozen individuals in brightly colored clothing smiling in front of a black wall

Black Art Speaks is a nonprofit organization containing a collective group of artists seeking to share their voices through the power of art. Under the leadership of Alandes Powell, Black Art Speaks led the creation and production of the "Black Lives Matter!" mural in front of Cincinnati's City Hall at 801 Plum Street, which was unveiled on Juneteenth 2020.

Black Art Speaks also published a book titled, “The Making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter,” inspired by executive director and co-founder Alandes Powell’s poem, “We Want What You Want."

From mural to installation

Black Art Speaks is working to erect each letter from the "Black Lives Matter!" mural in Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods. This project aims to build awareness and drive transformative conversations about race and equity in each of these unique communities.

Black Art Speaks has tapped the Urban Impact Studio to help them with the many aspects of infrastructure, relationship development and community engagement necessary to complete this project.

During the 2022-23 academic year, students will support the project by:

man wearing black shirt and pants kneels while working on street mural in downtown Cincinnati
  • Navigating the areas of zoning and planning, community engagement and product development.
  • Completing project-inspired curricula that will help build infrastructure and equity for Black artists while educating community youth.
  • Developing key drivers and associated metrics to track and monitor project’s throughput.

Key partners and collaborators in this project include:

Follow the Urban Impact Studio on social media for regular project updates.

Contact Us

Headshot of Chanda Monroe-Williams

Chanda Monroe-Williams

Executive Director, Urban Impact & Project Learning, Adjunct Instructor, Department of Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems

3430 Lindner Hall

513-556-2563