A mural featuring poet Amanda Gorman from this year’s Inauguration was on display in downtown Palm Springs Friday, just days before the Los Angeles native’s 23rd birthday.
Artist MisterAlek painted Gorman surrounded by butterflies and the word “unity.”
The scene depicts her powerful reading of her original poem “The Hill We Climb” when Joe Biden was sworn in as president in Washington, D.C, on Jan. 20.
The performance thrust her into the national spotlight. She also recited a poem at the Super Bowl.
Gorman also made news Friday after tweeting that a security guard followed her on her walk home, accusing her of looking “suspicious.” Hours later, outlets from the New York Times to The Daily Beast had picked up the story.
She concluded, “this is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat.”
The art, commissioned for $5,000 through the City of Palm Springs Arts Fund, will stay up through December, commission chair Russell Pritchard told The Desert Sun.
The temporary mural is near Belardo Road and Museum Way at a spot called the “art pit,” owned by Grit Development.
Gorman became the youngest person to recite her poetry at an Inauguration and only the sixth poet to participate in the ceremony.
Gorman, whose birthday is Sunday, was selected in 2014 as the first Los Angeles youth poet laureate and in 2017 as the first national youth poet laureate. She graduated in May from Harvard University with a degree in sociology.
Gorman has two books forthcoming, including her first children’s book, Change Sings, set to be published in September.
– City News Service and staff reports
