Big Facts Small Acts was built through brand experience and activation. When your brand is nothing more than a website, an Instagram handle and one woman’s vision, you have a lot of work to do to bring that brand to life.

By partnering with the city’s most famous artists to cover their iconic murals with removable vinyl masks we turned the city’s street artists into a trusted source of needed public health information. From the streets to social, Big Facts Small Acts was a trusted voice from the community for the community, and that authenticity made all the difference.

Black and Brown communities across the US were hardest hit by COVID-19. Years of mistreatment from the medical establishment have left them distrusting of messages from official sources like the CDC, and combined with more exposure due to essential jobs, underlying health risks, systemic racial inequalities, and rampant misinformation, the situation was dire.

Sherri Daye Scott realized she couldn’t wait for the official sources to get it together, so she started Big Facts Small Acts to do what the official sources couldn't – make a real connection in Black and Brown neighborhoods and slow the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on her community.

Since the official sources of information weren’t connecting with Black and Brown communities, we partnered with the city’s most famous street artists to cover their iconic murals and turn defacing street art into an act of love.

Atlanta is a driving force in Black culture and one of the most recognizable pieces of that culture is the city’s street art. The artists behind those murals aren’t just artists, they’re trusted voices in the community. The truth is these artists put their reputation on the line to bridge the trust gap between their communities and the official sources.

When a mural is defaced it’s news, and when the message of the art changes, the community listens. The beauty of this movement was its simplicity. Every new artist was another trusted voice, and every piece covered turned existing street art and into public health messaging for communities skeptical of public health messaging.

As stated above, Black and Brown communities have an inherent distrust of official sources, so instead of pointing a message at the community, we built a message from the community for the community.

The truth is the artists put their reputation on the line to bridge the trust gap between their communities and the official sources of information. Especially Fabian Williams who was the first artist to participate, covering three of the city’s most iconic and meaningful murals - his Kaeplanta mural of Colin Kaepernick, his Wake Up West End mural of Martin Luther King Jr, and his Bob Marley Mural. Once other artists saw that Fabian had put himself out there and not been punished, the support came pouring in, and each new mural was a new voice and a new messaging opportunity in the community.

We partnered with the city’s most famous street artists to put masks on their iconic murals and do what the official sources couldn't – make a real connection in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

For the masks, artists used removable vinyl to reiterate the temporary nature of the pandemic and make sure their original art wouldn’t be damaged.

When you’re asking artists to revisit pieces so personal to them it’s not a production, it’s a collaboration. The best example is Fabian Williams desire not to cover his masks with facts and CTAs, but instead to keep it real, authentic to the community and focused on messaging positive affirmations above all else. Because he was honest and shared that vision, every artist after him had the same latitude to make their piece their own.

They spoke in their voice to their community. And that authenticity is what made it all work.

The initial investment of one woman’s stimulus check has grown into a community partnership with Emory Healthcare to connect with Black and Brown communities, a grant from Emory University, a featured panel at SXSW, an exhibit at the CDC’s David J Spencer Museum, and over 118 Million earned media impressions including coverage on CNN, NPR, and YouTube’s Official Channel.

Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens on the campaign’s impact, “Big Facts, Small Acts without a doubt made an impact in our community. Atlanta’s black artists are seen as more than creatives; they’re seen as trusted community voices. We needed trusted voices. So to have them deface their own iconic murals to say ‘This is real. Take it serious. We’re gonna be alright,’ that made a big difference.”

Most importantly, according to Fulton County zip code level data, the neighborhoods with our murals saw 16% fewer reported cases from July through August.