Kevin Hoffman

Paint store helps restore Pride crosswalk

A crosswalk in Tennessee is vibrant once more with help from a local Sherwin-Williams store.

A crowd of volunteers restored the colorful crossing at 14th and Woodland streets in East Nashville last month as part of June’s Pride month celebration.

The community event was made possible in part by a local Sherwin-Williams store, which donated 20 gallons of paint formulated to reflect the pantones of the rainbow Pride flag, as well as rollers and other supplies.

“This means everything. This is representation,” Council member Olivia Hill, the first trans woman ever elected in Tennessee, told the Nashville Tennessean.

The crosswalk was targeted by vandals shortly after it was painted in 2024. A man who worked for a local window-replacement company was charged after surveillance footage showed him driving a company van to the location and pouring out black window prep primer to deface the source of community pride.

Because of the donation by the local Sherwin-Williams store, no taxpayer dollars were used on the effort.

“Nashville really is an accepting place, and this is proof,” Hill told the newspaper. “This is like a banner that shows people who come here that they’re safe.”