Artist starts mural, asks for help finishing

13th Street Mural Project begins in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The 13th Street Mural Project begins in Fort Lauderdale, and organizers are asking for help finishing it.

Jacklyn Laflamme hopes the mural will brighten the area in northeast Fort Lauderdale.

"This is the beginning of brining this neighborhood up," she said. "It used to be a neighborhood that was blight, crime, and we're trying to raise the neighborhood out of that."

Laflamme painted the upper portion of the outdoor gallery project, but she needs help.

Laflamme is asking people who live in the neighborhood to add the finishing touches.

"We're going to have kids and the community come out and they're going to help paint the rest of the wall," she added.

Grant money is paying for paint and supplies. The two-building spruce up is part of a larger-area improvement effort.

"We're doing a series of buildings, and in the buildings, we're incorporating different faces and features," said Laflamme, "so it's going to be like the faces of the community on the buildings."

Laflamme recently painted murals in Pembroke Pines, Wilton Manors, and North Miami Beach.

"It enhances businesses, and it gets people motivated to come to different communities, and, you know, they'll want to come here and have coffee. It's a draw," she said. "It's a way to build a community and I think that it always starts with artwork."

If you want to help paint the mural, work at 600 NE 13th Street is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.