EATONVILLE, Fla. — A new mural completed just in time for the start of Black History Month is the latest in a series of art projects meant to inspire and commemorate the historic town.

The mural project was started as a precursor to the I-4 arts endowment project. When Eatonville leaders started to look for possible art projects around town, they looked at an old wall on a basketball court in Elizabeth Park as inspiration.

“It was an older wall that needed to be repainted, so we said, 'There’s an opportunity to add some art and culture in the town,' " Town Planner James Benderson said.

The town commissioned 6 poets, 3 calligraphists and 7 muralists.

Painters and poets teamed up to create 6 different murals: 5 on one side, and 1 larger one on the other side. Muralist German Lemus painted the largest one featuring Eatonville's most famous former citizen, Zora Neale Hurston, called "Rise."

“This is actually my bread and butter. Yes, I actually pay the bills doing mural work,” Lemus said.

For others, like artist A.J. Barbel, this was their first mural. 

“After this the sky’s the limit,” Barbel said.

But these Central Florida artists aren’t doing this mural for them; it’s for the ones who used this court long before they showed up. 

“This is bigger than us, this is historic,” Barbel said.

It's art meant for more than just decoration. 

“I want them to be completely inspired,” Lemus said.

Just as these murals rose from lines, ideas and splashes of color, the artists and town are hoping when the children of Eatonville see these historical figures painted — including Ida B. Wells, Malcom X, and Zora Neale Hurston — they’ll want to rise to their true potential.

“They have the potential to be another Zora, or another leader of the world,” Barbel said.