ORLANDO, Fla. — As Spectrum News celebrates and honors Black History Month, Lift Orlando is highlighting the history of one of the city’s oldest Black neighborhoods through art.
In the heart of the historic Washington Shores community, history is alive and well, living on now on walls as art thanks to The Choice Legacy Murals project.
What You Need To Know
Lift Orlando is partnering with community members to help highlight history in the city’s oldest Black communities through The Choice Legacy Murals project
Community artist and painter Ron Kelly, who is helping coordinate the project, said one of its cornerstones is a mural honoring the original Washington Shores Savings and Loan building, which still stands today
The project made possible by local artists and Keyania Johnson with Lift Orlando
One of the centerpieces is this mural of the original Washington Shores Savings and Loan building, which is still standing to this very day. Local artist Ron Kelly, who grew up in Washington Shores, said his father was one of the first Black police officers to work for the Orlando Police Department.
Kelly is working with other community artists on a mural of the historic bank in Washington Shores.
“Well, it was the first bank that was founded by people in the neighborhood,” he said. “Most of these guys were my elders so to speak — some bankers, some doctors and attorneys.”
Keyania Johnson, who serves as Choice Operations Coordinator with Lift Orlando, helped get the project going.
“Lift Orlando, in partnership with Orlando Housing Authority, came together to really highlight the rich history of the community,” Johnson said.
There are other artists working on the mural project like Jordan Jones, who says the work they are doing is important and helps preserve Washington Shores’ legacy and history.
“It’s pretty cool that we get to paint the original bank on what it eventually became,” Jones said. “Especially knowing that it was in this community and it was Black-owned and something that helped people live quality lives.”