© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TPS Unveils Greenwood Public Art Installation At Carver Middle School

Tulsa Public Schools unveiled on Thursday a public art installation honoring Greenwood.

"A Stroll In Greenwood" is an 800-foot, printed vinyl mural hung inside Carver Middle School’s football stadium. The work is a collaboration by Kansas City’s Donald Ross "Scribe" and Tulsa’s Chris "Sker" Rogers, a Carver alum. They also created the Black Wall Street mural at the Greenwood Cultural Center.

Rogers said "A Stroll In Greenwood" shows the district from its prosperous heyday to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, but it doesn’t stop there.

"Also part of the project has been the emphasis on the positive growth in the community, that positive vision for the future, because we know that all the different things that are happening in Greenwood District and north Tulsa are the result of people having a positive attitude and having a hopeful mentality," Rogers said.

The mural leads viewers on a journey through Greenwood's history. It starts in greens and browns in the days of Black Wall Street, moves into orange, red and black in depictions of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and then muted tones showing the aftermath give way to more vibrant colors showing where Greenwood is headed today.

Carver Principal Elton Sykes said students have taken walking field trips of their community, seeing the landmarks shown in the mural.

"So, I think that it fits well with our curriculum and how we learn about the community in which we work in," Sykes said.

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission awarded a grant for the new mural. It also received support from WPX Energy, Devon and Flintco.

TPS recently launched a curriculum for teaching about the massacre across all grade levels.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
Related Content