What is being billed as the “longest LGBTQ+ mural in history,” at over half a mile, is currently being installed in DC on 15th Street, Northwest, between O and V streets—which, not coincidentally, happens to be where the WorldPride Parade will kick off on June 7.
Led by the studio of Lisa Marie Thalhammer, the artist who created DC’s LOVE mural and who says she has painted most of the rainbow walls in the city, “Rainbow Road,” as the work is called, is being painted in the bike lane buffer of 15th Street, and features, as the name suggests, a flow of colors: brown, black, blue, white, pink, purple, indigo, green, yellow, orange, and red, with three white stars representing DC’s flag at each end. Along the way, in either the buffer zone or no-parking spaces, passers-by will also see the original designs of seven other local LGBTQ-identifying artists: Maps Glover, Mundy Spears, Zeynep Uruc, Keyonna Jones, Nia Keturah Calhoun, Beezy, and Micah Meyers.
If all goes according to plan, the mural will be finished by the end of the day today. More than 120 volunteers have been working on the project since Friday.
While some may be calling it the “longest” mural ever, technically there are breaks at street crossings, to comply with DDOT regulations. Thalhammer says there is also no paint in areas where people actually walk, bike, or drive. Sponsored by the Capital Pride Alliance, the mural is applied with epoxy paint, so will last long past the parade and WorldPride 2025.
“It’s just meant to bring joy and creativity and color to our everyday experience of moving through the city,” Thalhammer says. “There’s been a really positive response from the neighborhood.”
There also, says Thalhammer, may be an added benefit to painting a mural next to a bike lane: “There have been accidents in the bike lane, but when you give the bike lane more visibility it makes our streets safer for everyone.”
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
