If you’ve spent any time in DC, particularly the Shaw community, you know the “Go-Go corner” located at 7^th and Florida Avenue where Go-Go music has played on outdoor speakers for a quarter of a century and is named for the Godfather of Go-Go. The corner is now also the home of a new MuralsDC mural showcasing DC’s iconic music and was celebrated today by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH).

 

The new mural, located in the CVS parking lot, is directly across from the building where Go-Go music plays daily.  The mural painted by local artist Kaliq Crosby, features a young boy on percussion. The painting is a throwback to Go-Go’s early roots, when local youth would beat out a Go-Go rhythm on empty 5-gallon plastic jugs.

 

Two years ago, the Go-Go music that boomed from the front of 1915 7^th Street halted after complaints. This sparked an instantaneous response from community activists and a pop-up Go-Go concert at 14^th & U, NW, which drew thousands of Go-Go fans.

 

“This mural is one of nearly a dozen MuralsDC projects created every quadrant of the city this year,” said DPW Interim Director Davis, who was also joined by “Don’t Mute DC” activists Ron Moten, Natalie Hopkinson, and Donald Campbell who has deejayed the “Go-Go Corner” for 26 years. “When this wall is complete, it will be an 80-foot-long tribute to DC culture that will celebrate parts of our history and provide a glimpse into our future.”

 

Crosby’s mural is the first of three works of art to be featured on the wall. Another mural is currently being painted by frequent MuralsDC artist Aniekan Udofia, whose work is sponsored, in part, by Shaw Mainstreets.

 

MuralsDC is funded by the Department of Public Works (DPW) with support by the Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH). Since 2007, DC’s largest public mural program has complimented DPW’s mission to keep the District clean and beautiful by creating nearly 150 original works of art on walls in every ward of the city. Artists for the 2021 season were asked to touch on themes that reflected DC cultural pride, social justice, statehood, and/or gender/racial equality. Their mural locations are as follows: