'Power'

At the corner of Jacob and Lewis streets in Charleston, West Virginia, stands a metaphorical mural. It’s made up of thousands of tiny, colorful squares that come together to depict the complexity and multidimensionality of power.

The mural stretches out to almost the end of the street, and it is almost too much to take in at one time. It takes a couple of minutes of walking to get to the end in order to get the full picture. The changes in color make the viewer want to go along the wall to see the other end, as if the artwork itself possessed some kind of influence to make the observer move.

At the end of the painting, we find the signatures of the artists, Rebecca Recco and Isaac Emrick, and the title of their work: “Power.” The mural’s name comes from a few different sources. In an interview with the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Recco said “West Virginia is kind of the source of power for other states pretty much. It’s a controversial thing.” It’s also close to Appalachian Power Park, home of the minor league baseball team the West Virginia Power.

The piece was first created in June 2015 and has been witnessing the changes in the neighborhood ever since. The artists painted the dark background color first, then filled in the tiny little squares with different colors.