This mosaic mural is a memorial to DeJour Gandy Malone, who taught pre-school at the Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center. He was murdered before his 30th birthday, and before his son was born. DeJour was a beloved son, nephew, cousin, friend, and teacher, who grew up in Ithaca.

Black Girl Alchemy had already been planning to work with the Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center on a collaborative art project. With the tragic loss of DeJour, the community needed a creative outlet for collective grief. That outlet came in the form of community gatherings to honor his life, share stories and begin to put to paper all the ways his life deeply mattered. Those drawings, and ideas took form as community members gathered to sculpt tiles from raw claw, paint them, and finally, assemble a mosaic together. Here’s a bit of what that process looked like: