Murals on a mission: Street art making city streets safer

Colorful street murals are popping up across Capitol Hill and around D.C. But the vibrant art is aimed at more than just brightening crosswalks: they are a community-based public safety measure designed to create safer intersections.

Color Your Curb, an initiative of the D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities, partners with D.C. public schools and artists to create lively street murals at crosswalks aimed at reducing accidents.

Samantha Hamilton, an artist with Chalk Riot, a mural company specializing in vibrant pavement art, works with two third grade classes from Maury Elementary School, a neighborhood school located in the heart of Capitol Hill.

Through a STEM program that focuses on elements of the environment, Maury  students create images as a class and merge the images into one idea, Hamilton said. “It’s a community process and the kids lead.”

As an artist, Hamilton gets to take liberties to bring the images to life on the streets of Capitol Hill.

A graduate of American University, Hamilton’s art is prominently displayed on the streets of the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The Color Your Curb program works alongside the city’s Vision Zero, a Mayor Muriel Bowser-backed DDOT’s program aimed at producing zero fatalities and serious injuries on D.C. streets.

Greg Billings, DDOT’s bike pathway branch manager, said he works to implement curb extensions on city streets where pedestrian safety is a concern, adding that the program is data driven. 

Artists like Hamilton, in collaboration with neighborhood schools, then bring art murals to curb extensions.

Without the artwork, the curb extensions are not as visible, said Hamilton.

Hamilton said the science shows that “extending the area where pedestrians walk reduces accidents.”

For 2025, participating schools include Maury as well as Columbia Heights Education Campus and Mary Reed Elementary.

Street art, political flashpoint.

As artists and officials collaborate for safer streets, art remains a political flashpoint. 

In March 2025 Bowser admittedly succumbed to “political pressure” by removing the Black Lives Matter mural from 16^th Street.  The mural stood as reminder of the city’s racial reckoning after the 2020 death of George Floyd and Bowser’s defiance at the time against President Donald Trump.

Reflecting on the mural’s removal, Hamilton said, “The removal of the Black Lives Matter mural was terrifying.”  While it didn’t directly target Hamilton’s work, she said, “It jeopardized the work of all artists” and sent shockwaves through the art community as to what could be next.  

More recently, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a directive urging states across the country to remove street art and murals, citing defacement and driver distraction. 

Erik Salmi, Councilmember Charles Allen’s deputy chief of staff, said, “If the federal approach gains traction, it could roll back safety measures in the name of aesthetics.” 

Salmi pushed back on the federal framing of street art as a distraction, saying, “Whenever a street changes, especially in a way people don’t expect, it causes people to slow down—it’s a safety benefit.”

Salmi said he doesn’t have any concern that street murals pose a safety risk.

“DDOT has rolled it out, they are doing it with safety in mind. It’s not willy nilly, they follow strict guidelines and data,” Salmi said.

Amid growing concerns of directed art removal, Hamilton and leaders from Chalk Riot met with Rep Maxwell Frost (D-Fla) last week.  Frost, who has introduced legislation to support emerging artists, is taking up the issue directly with local artists in what may be strategic step for further federal directives.

Hamilton said, “It’s a huge concern that there’s going to be legislation coming down the pipeline to make it illegal and cover all of them without warning.” 

Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, a Republican, under the direction of the new Road Safety initiative, removed a painted rainbow crosswalk that served as a memorial for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida. DeSantis and his team removed the painting overnight without notification or consultation, sparking concerns within the art community that it could happen anywhere.  

According to Hamilton, Frost briefed the Chalk Riot team on the developments in Florida and explained there is ‘no law or pending legislation’ mandating the removal of street murals.

Despite the federal initiative, D.C. officials are doubling down on data driven public safety measures.   Salmi said in D.C., “traffic deaths and major crashes are down considerably.”