Seen in Natomas: Portrait of George Floyd

Image of large book. Painted on the left is a person with multiple colors of paint spilling out of their mouth and the words "No Justice No Peace No Racist Police" and painted on the right is a portrait of George Floyd who was killed while in police custody in Minnesota.

Inderkum students and alumni painted the interactive sculpture on June 14. / Photo NatomasBuzz.com

THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

Inderkum High School students painted the interactive “Authors of Our Own Destiny” sculpture in Natomas over the weekend.

The group effort was organized by the student-led organization Initi8. The non-profit’s mission is to create an impact through advocacy, teamwork, and action for those in need.

“We at Initi8 have the belief to advocate for what we believe in strongly and safely, and this mural was a vehicle to do so,” said Sidharth Gopisetty, the founder and president of Initi8, and a senior at Inderkum. “We truly feel passionate about this cause and wanted to help in a safe manner during the pandemic.”

Gopisetty and Initi8’s vice-president, Emily Tang, also a senior at Inderkum, coordinated the daylong painting project which started at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 14 and continued some eight hours later.

Gopisetty and Tang were joined by rising seniors Caitlin Law and Nicole Nicolas as well as rising junior Ankit Budhiraja. Inderkum ceramics teacher Rachel Rodriguez worked on the project and a handful of Inderkum graduates came out to support the effort.

To learn more about Initi8, visit Initi-8.org online or Initi8npo on Instagram.

Authors of Our Own Destiny is located on Del Paso Road adjacent to the American River College satellite campus and North Natomas Library. This interactive public art installation can be painted on by anyone, at anytime, no reservations or approval required before hand. Check out more previous paintings here.