Bella Joy Gardens lettering on

Detour/Hiero Viega memorial mural

This is the most meaningful thing I've ever painted. Bella had just celebrated her 21st birthday. She died from an unbelievably senseless shooting just outside the building I live in. It shouldn't have happened. I've woken up thinking about Bella and her family nearly every morning for over two months. I've wanted to do something, anything, that felt like it was helpful in a small way but I didn't know how.

Soon after that awful day Thomas "Detour" Evans and Hiero Viega (who collaborate on murals of victims of police brutality through Spray Their Name) painted this beautiful tribute to Bella on the side of Leon Gallery and Talulah Jones in Uptown, Denver.

Bella's mother Ana began the process of turning the adjacent park into Bella Joy Gardens. She asked me to add the name of the park to the mural, and Carmen Richards quickly helped me make this happen within 24 hours before the park dedication.

I’m honored to have been trusted to letter Bella's name at this park that will serve as a gathering place for families who have lost loved ones by gun violence. A place of mourning but also a place of beauty and joy—Bella Joy Gardens.