A still from the documentary "Painted City" by Caitlin Carroll and Brad Forder shows the "Seasons in the City" mural in Pleasant Plains. The film recently had its broadcast premiere on Maryland Public Television and is available to stream via the MPT website. (Photo courtesy of Painted City)

Documentary ‘Painted City’ intimately captures DC’s mural culture

By Jennifer Anne Mitchell On Jan 21, 2021 Last updated Feb 10, 2021

Painted City is a charming 26-minute documentary about Perry Frank’s passion for cataloging and preserving murals throughout the District. At a time when gentrification is leading to the destruction of many of these paintings in DC, Frank says, “My project makes the murals last through the ages.”

The acclaimed film — which had its television premiere last month — showcases local culture in a uniquely authentic way, as the camera captures stunning shots of row houses, streets and, of course, colorful murals. Frank, a cultural historian with a doctorate in American studies from The George Washington University, tells the stories behind them. She also manages dcmurals.org, an initiative that began in the 1990s to track local murals.

Frank shares her expert insights into the 37 murals that are featured in Painted City. She notes how the day-to-day life of DC residents is depicted in the foreground of the artworks and how federal buildings like the U.S. Capitol are frequently placed in the background. The film explains the history of one of the oldest murals in the city: Un Pueblo Sin Murales, created in Adams Morgan at 1979 Columbia Road NW in 1977 by immigrants who made DC their home after fleeing oppressive governments in Latin America.

Along with her knowledge, Frank’s heartfelt adoration of the city is on display throughout. “I love Washington,” she says. “It is my home. Every piece of it.” In the film, Frank says that she immediately felt a connection with DC when she moved here in 1973 after earning a bachelor’s degree in American literature at the University of Florida and a master’s in English at the University of Texas at Austin. Shots of her wearing a matching maroon coat and hat depict the arguably iconic figure she has since become in the DC arts scene.

Projects like Frank’s murals website and Painted City are key to documenting the District’s cultural history. The film was created by director and editor Caitlin Carrol and producer and director of photography Brad Forder. It is free to stream on Maryland Public Television’s website after its broadcast debut on Dec. 27. It is fitting that it premiered on the network in 2020, a year when we all had to step back and consider what really matters.

For Frank, that likely includes DC’s murals. She has dedicated her life to preserving their history so local residents can connect with their city in a deeper way. A scene in Painted City shows Frank speaking at an at-large DC Council candidates forum on neighborhoods and economic development. By sharing her research, she tries to make the case for legislation to protect DC murals.

“You wouldn’t think of going into a museum and pulling down the pictures and smashing them on the floor and sweeping them up,” Frank says in the film.

Perry Frank and the “Un Pueblo Sin Murales” mural in Kalorama Triangle (Photo courtesy of Painted City)

Painted City was produced with support from a number of local arts and humanities organizations, with fiscal sponsorship from Women in Film and Video Washington, DC, and grants from the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment, HumanitiesDC and the DC Historic Preservation Office. Part of the funding came via the DC Community Heritage Project, an initiative established by the latter two organizations.

Beyond highlighting how the District’s rapid development is demolishing murals, Painted City explains that gentrification is making it impossible for many people — including Frank, now 75 — to live here. Her time in the city is limited. Looking to the years ahead when she will be working less, Frank explains that DC is simply getting too expensive for her to stay. In the film, she begs for the new generation of local arts and humanities professionals to pick up where she is leaving off.

Painted City is certainly one way to get people interested. Locally, the documentary was an official selection of the Alexandria Film Festival 2017 and DC Shorts Film Festival 2017. It also won “Best Documentary Short” in the DC Independent Film Festival in 2017.

Mark Thomas, a photographer who has helped Frank document local murals, points out that street art is much different than fine art. “It tells the story very often of daily life,” he states in Painted City, “and that’s not the kind of thing you can expect to see in a museum.”

This film shares the everyday neighborhood culture of the District that its residents know and love with people outside of the area who may be less familiar with the city beyond the federal core. Painted City earned an honorable mention for “Best Documentary Short” at the Southeast New England Film, Music & Arts Festival in Providence, Rhode Island, and has been shown in California at the New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Architecture, Art and Design Film Festival in Palm Springs.

It’s unlikely to stop gentrification, but Painted City may convince the District’s inhabitants to help Frank fight to restore murals instead of allowing them to be smashed down. If nothing else, it is a delightful movie that warms the heart and spotlights a wonderful woman who, after years of documenting local history, earned the right to be documented herself.