Wilkinsburg Muralist Heads to Paris Olympics to Spread Message of Peace

KHolbrook IslandA Wilkinsburg muralist who has painted murals around the world will paint four murals in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympicsfrom July 26 to August 11. The locations, as well as collaborating artists, will be revealed when the murals are painted, he said.

These murals will bear his universal symbol of peace, he said, showing a hand holding a peace sign with its fingers.

Holbrook believes in the power of art to share his message.

“I want to bring more attention to this issue and the need for peace and humanity…” he said. “What more important time to get the message across that as human beings we need to think about peace and humanity.”

His message of peace is inspired by the ongoing problem of gun violence in the United States. Holbrook himself, as well as close friends, have been victims of gun violence. He hopes to spread his message of peace with these murals.

He also wants to link his message of peace to the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Gaza conflict.

“I think doing this, these murals for the Olympics, is the pinnacle of my career,” Holbrook says.

Holbrook plans to paint these murals in high-traffic areas that many tourists will visit due to its proximity to works by famous artists such as Banksy, Activator, a French street artist, and JR, a French muralist photographer.

The Olympics are expected to attract 300,000 spectators from around the world. He plans to print the words on the murals in English and French so that the message can be understood by everyone. The murals will also include Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian symbols.

To ensure the success of this project, Holbrook received $150,000 from the Louis Wolfson Foundation and the Based in Miami Pinnacle Real Estate Group to obtain the necessary supplies and to arrange logistics with the owners of the four buildings.

Over the past 24 years, Holbrook says he has painted more than 400 murals in the Pittsburgh area and 150 in Miami, where he resides part of the time. He also says he has painted murals in 43 countries.

He also founded Moving Lives of Kids, known as MLK Mural Project, a public arts organization that empowers youth through art and education by giving them the skills to produce public art. It includes a group mural project and community work each summer.

Murals he painted in the Pittsburgh area include August Wilson in the Hill District, the Veterans Mural on the South Side, and the large image of Roberto Clemente on the Clemente Museum side in Lawrenceville. He also painted a mural in the Monroeville Mall that features many Pittsburgh icons like Mac Miller and Franco Harris in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Monroeville Mall mural in 2023.