BUFFALO, N.Y. — Months of hard work is now displayed on the Lexington Co-Op's building on 1678 Hertel Ave.
The Fairtrade Mural was painted by artist Julia Bottoms, who said, "it starts off as an outline, it turns into like filled colors, and eventually it's what we have in front of us."
Jennifer White is the marketing manager.
"It is such a beautiful story of transparency, and just the narrative behind a drink that most of us have almost every day," White said.
The mural honors Rahmah from Indonesia. Bottoms said that Rahmah is a "female business owner. She runs one of the largest coffee operations in Sumatra, Indonesia."
Rahmah harvests the coffee that they sell in the store through Gimme! Coffee.
Bottoms said that it is "really cool to come together and tell a story about this amazing farmer who is so far away from us, but has kind of a shared connection to us here in Buffalo. "
The mural is part of Fairtrade America's National "We are Fairtrade Campaign." October is Fairtrade Month.
"The message, the mission behind all of this is to choose Fairtrade products. You have a voice. You have a choice in the products that are available. You can support more equitable, more sustainable forms of labor, trade, support farmers, support cooperatives, support goodwill," White said.
Bottoms added: "I think that the message behind that is really, really important, and it speaks to bigger themes within my own work of just trying to raise marginalized voices and make sure that people are seen and acknowledged."
Their message has even reached Rahmah's family on social media.
"There was a woman who commented in Indonesian. I clicked on the see translation and it said, 'My mom is so cool.' We are now connected with her daughter. It's just such a feel good moment. She should feel proud and we should all feel proud about it."
They are holding an unveiling of their mural in celebration of National Fairtrade Month. The event is Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Organizers say there will be music, food, and activities for the kids, such as face painting and pumpkin painting.
