Made in the CHOP, Seattle's BLM mural to become permanent

The giant Black Lives Matter mural in Seattle is slated to become a permanent piece of the city.

The 15 artists who made the Black Lives Matter street mural have formed a plan with the City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture to preserve it.

They created the mural, painted in colorful block letters on Pine Street on Capitol Hill, in June during the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. But parts of it are already faded or chipped.

One of the artists, Takiyah Ward, said city crews are actually going to etch the letters into the street.

"We're just digging into even further this message — this idea, the movement, making it really permanent. And so we're all super excited about that fact. They're going to etch the letters out in stone ... which will then allow us to layer the paint and colors in a way that makes them more permanent."

Ward uses the artist name T-Dub Customs, and painted the "T's" in Black Lives Matter. Ward and the other artists are collaborating under the Vivid Matter Collective.

A city statement says the preservation of the mural is "an acknowledgement of the cultural significance of the site in the Black Lives Matter movement."

The work to preserve the mural begins on Tuesday, and artists will repaint the letters in the coming weekend.

Ward said etching the phrase into concrete is one step in a long journey the city needs to take toward racial justice.

"The etching in stone of our mural is a great look but it's also really about action, as far as, you know, policy and law. So we're hoping, we're hopeful the city can really come through in a real way with regard to proving that Black lives matter."