Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Legacy Remembered In Huge Street Art Mural

Street artist Elle painted a three-story-tall mural of the late Supreme Court associate justice in New York City.
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The legacy of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being remembered with a gigantic new street art mural in New York City.

Street artist Elle painted the three-story depiction of the late Supreme Court associate justice ― who died in September at the age of 87 ― on the corner of 11th Street and 1st Avenue in the East Village.

The piece also features Lady Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

β€œI’m super honoured to be able to paint her portrait in New York,” Elle told HuffPost, hailing Ginsburg as β€œquite the force to be reckoned with working behind the scenes to push equal rights in America.”

California-born Elle β€œfell in love” with street art after dropping out of art school and moving to New York at age 21.

She wheat-pasted pieces around Brooklyn before becoming β€œsuper obsessed” with graffiti and getting sponsored by a spray paint company.

Elle then β€œtook all of my free spray paint and started asking people if I could paint their walls for free.

Elle spent the rest of her 20s honing her craft in New York, later a year in France, and is now mostly on the road worldwide painting her collages of β€œthe all-powerful female β€” but no one in particular” for clients and at festivals, to the extent the coronavirus pandemic allows.

β€œI chose the name Elle because it means β€˜she’ in French,” the artist explained. β€œI realised there were very few women graffiti artists, so I wanted to get up for the ladies.”

TaskForce, an agency working with arts, culture and social change, commissioned Elle to paint the portrait of Ginsburg.

When she couldn’t find a suitable wall in the Midwood or Flatbush neighborhoods of Brooklyn, from where Ginsburg hailed, the nonprofit LISA Project NYC found her space in the East Village in Manhattan.

β€œI don’t typically paint portraits,” said Elle, who spent two weeks on the mural. β€œBut when I was invited to create the piece for RBG there was nothing more that I wanted to do than to paint a memorial piece for her.”

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being honored with a three-story street art mural in Manhattan.
The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being honored with a three-story street art mural in Manhattan.
Lindsay DeDario/Reuters

The piece took on a special significance, Elle said, following President Donald Trump’s election defeat by President-elect Joe Biden.

β€œI love New York, New York loves RBG, and I think it’s fair to say that nearly the entire city was elated about the election results,” she said. β€œRBG is a hometown native of this city ― and she will forever be loved and an icon here.”

β€œWe are beyond thrilled to see Trump ousted,” the artist added. β€œAnd I think this portrait of RBG represents that continuation of hope and joy that this city badly needed after such a hard year with Covid-19.”

Check out more of Elle’s work on Instagram, her website and below:

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