Famed French artist Alexandre “Hopare” Monteiro completed this free style mural maneuvering a lift with one hand and paint materials in the other. He considers CITIZEN to be “one of the most epic walls I’ve ever created, and perhaps the one for which I am most proud.”

Often artists leave room for interpretation to those who engage their work. However, Hopare had a specific intention for this project: “When people experience CITIZEN, I hope they see a vast space where everyone has the same rights, the same future promise, the same opportunity, where we all belong together.”

Hopare arrived in Montgomery with a preliminary sketch concept prepared. However, after meeting some local young Montgomery citizens, he was compelled to revise his idea. The final mural evokes the personal, the past and the present with hopeful anticipation. “Every character and every posture is deliberate. “We must not forget history while being a source of hope for our future children.”