For those of you with good memories, we reported on this talented muralist in our June edition of the FUZE. Jenna Rice, the daughter of my good friend Dan Rice, has made the news again with her topical murals. Following George Floyd’s tragic death, there was a weekend of protests and one particularly bad night of rioting in Greensboro, North Carolina. Seeing the aftermath, Jenna, along with some fellow local artists coordinated the painting of some of the plywood-covered businesses to brighten up the city and bring a positive message during this dark time. Shortly after Jenna completed her mural on the boarded up taco restaurant “Crafted”, the curator of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian contacted the owner requesting the mural for their collection once the boards were taken down. Unfortunately the following weekend, in the early hours of Sunday morning, vandals defaced it. She didn’t want “hate to win” as she put it. It took Jenna a good part of 2 days to redo the mural. She did this version with more photorealism and added varnish to protect the painting as well. The restored mural is now in storage awaiting pickup by the Smithsonian to be displayed when the museum reopens.

Once again, we at Fuzion salute you Jenna Rice for making a difference in these stressful crazy times we live in. Bravo!