Oakland Unveils City's Tallest Mural, Spotlighting World Hunger
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The City of Oakland unveiled a new mural on Friday which is the city's tallest and serves to draw attention to world hunger.
The mayor of Oakland as well as a group of esteemed guests spoke at the unveiling Friday morning. Afterwards, three-time Grammy Award winner Fantastic Negrito, and D'Wayne Wiggins, founding member of R&B greats Tony! Toni! Toné! performed.
"This incredible symbol will serve as a reminder what this moment is about and what our work is going forward," Schaaf said.
The mural, one of six in a series called "Zero Hunger," was curated by the nonprofit Street Art for Mankind (SAM) in collaboration with World Food Program USA and supported by the Kellogg Company. The murals are aimed at "raising awareness and mobilizing support to combat rising U.S. and global food insecurity, especially in the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic," according to a statement from the city.
"We are honored to expand our Zero Hunger series around the United States with the World Food Program USA and Kellogg. We hope our gigantic murals, created by an incredibly diverse group of talented street artists, will inspire the public to reflect on the current situation and do their share to support the fight against hunger within their communities and beyond. Together we can see bigger and create a hunger-free world," Audrey and Thibault Decker, Co-founders of Street Art for Mankind, said in a statement.
The mural in Oakland is posted on the wall of the 21-story Marriott City Center wall and was painted by the International artist Victor Ash, a French graffiti artist. Two other murals preceded the Oakland one -- one in New Orleans and the other in Houston. The three remaining murals will be installed in Washington, DC, Detroit and Battle Creek, Mich.