In August 2021, as part of Up Here 7, Black Lives Matter Sudbury presented a mural by DRPN Soul at Medina Lane and Durham Street. The large-scale public artwork contributed to the city’s evolving cultural landscape and centered Black representation within a prominent downtown space.

Artist Statement
“It’s beautiful to see young Black kids come and see me doing this work and they can relate. That represents them a little bit. Because it’s such a critical time and people are thinking and talking about these issues, it connects with people more.”

About the Artist
Kalkidan Assefa, known professionally as DRPN Soul, is an Ethiopian-born multidisciplinary visual artist and artist-educator based in the unceded Algonquin Anishnaabeg territory now known as Ottawa. His practice spans large-scale murals, collaborative community-based public art projects, mixed-media canvases, and illustration. His work explores diasporic experiences, Black representation and visibility, cultural memory, and ancestral knowledge, grounding contemporary conversations in history and lived experience.