Noted D.C. muralist MISS CHELOVE says her love of art was first sparked by graffiti along Route 1 she saw as a child.
The Hyattsville native, who was selected earlier this year to paint a mural at the Mount Rainier Library, would head into D.C. to visit her mother at work at the Library of Congress and the Voice of America.
CHELOVE, whose legal name is Cita Sadeli, told the Hyattsville Wire she was “captivated” by graffiti she saw, especially a piece by graffiti writers SER and REK at Rhode Island and 16th Place NE.
“When I was a teenager I began to form my involvement with the local punk music scene and was constantly taking the 86 bus to Rhode Island metro station to head downtown for shows and hanging out with friends,” she told the Hyattsville Wire.
Today, her favorite pieces along the corridor are a mural by Eric B. Ricks at 1613 Rhode Island Avenue NE and collection of graffiti burners at 13th and Rhode Island Ave NE dedicated to DABS, a recently deceased member of the DC graffiti community.
But she would like to see more large-scale murals, like the seven-story one that she recently completed as the coronavirus pandemic began at the Hotel Zena in Thomas Circle called “Guardians of the Four Directions.”
Her work was commissioned by the new owners of the former Donovan hotel who have converted it into Hotel Zena, which is being branded as a hotel that celebrates the power of the Woman. It will feature artwork from women artists from around the world.
“While I was out there I really did watch the city empty out,” she said. “It was a surreal experience.”
CHELOVE’s mural for the Mount Rainier library, currently on hold due to the closure of public libraries, is centered on a quote from the Roald Dahl book “Matilda”: “Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.”
