Pittsburgh-Based Muralist Completes Peace Mural Journey

PHOTO COURTESY OF KYLE HOLBROOK | THE MURAL IN ANCHORAGE IS THE LAST IN THE PITTSBURGH NATIVE’S JOURNEY TO PAINT IN ALL 50 STATES

Kyle Holbrook dipped his brush in acrylic paint. Using various shades of blue, he painted an eagle, a moose, mountains, children learning and in the middle of it all, a peace sign. 

“Unity & Peace in Alaska,” located near the entrance to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska in Anchorage, was the final mural painted in Holbrook’s 5-year National Stop Gun Violence Mural Tour, spanning all 50 states. 

“It was an amalgamation of a lifetime of work,” Holbrook says. “It was certainly emotional at the unveiling. All the families and kids were thanking me and everyone said peace together. It was a fitting completion of the project.” 

The journey that ended in Anchorage began in Pittsburgh, Holbrook’s hometown. Growing up in Wilkinsburg, his earliest memories were drawing Care Bears for the girls in his Kindergarten class.

Where his love for art began is also where he experienced gun violence for the first time. When he was younger, he was involved in gangs, and throughout his life he has lost nearly 50 people close to him to violence.    

His personal experiences shaped his initiative to bring peace across the United States. 

“Art gave me another direction. To take something that came out of those experiences and carry a message of peace all the way across America is something I could never have imagined when I was young,” Holbrook says in a press release. 

It all started in 2002, with the founding of the MLK Mural Project. The goal was to use public art as a vehicle for youth development, mentorship, education, employment and community transformation. In 2021, Holbrook launched the National Stop Gun Violence Mural Tour, expanding his message to all 50 states. 

“Peace was always the point,” he says in a press release. “The violence and the people I’ve lost are part of why I started this work, but I never wanted violence to have the last word. I wanted the artwork to show what we should be moving toward.”

The murals always start with orange, both his signature color and the color of gun violence awareness. He invites members of the community to pick up a paintbrush and write messages on the wall. Then, he completes the final imagery by hand.  

“I do the artwork over top of it, but when you come up close you can still see the messages people wrote,” he says. “It’s called underpainting, which is not a word I invented, but that process of painting collaboratively, it’s always in orange.”  

Holbrook has painted hundreds of murals in his life. His particular style is inspired by George Gist, a Pittsburgh muralist who combines both realism and abstract art. But, during the peace tour he was inspired by the simplicity of muralists like Banksy — simple designs and few colors.

The location is intentional, too; he focused on highly visible areas, reaching as many people as possible. The murals are also often located in places that have been directly impacted by gun violence, like his piece in Seattle. 

The green and yellow peace sign, located in Seattle’s Central District, is near the place that 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was shot in 2024. Holbrook dedicated the mural to Murphy-Paine and his family. 

Throughout his tour, the muralist was able to talk with people who had been affected by gun violence. Listening to their stories, he was able to compile an extensive archive of interviews and video footage. He hopes to use the material to develop a future film, book, exhibition and speaking projects.  

“For five years, the focus was getting to the next community and continuing the mission,” he says in a press release. “Now that all 50 states are complete, I finally have the opportunity to look back at what we experienced and what America taught me along the way.”