Metro Roundup: Local business owner partners with artist to share message of hope

Homewood resident Johnny Grimes, who is also the owner of Wheelhouse Salon, felt devastated when he realized his downtown salon had been looted during the May 31 George Floyd protests, he said.

But once he boarded up his windows, he decided to cover up the “ugly plywood” with a mural in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I’m willing to have my windows busted out if the end result is change,” he said.

In addition to owning the Wheelhouse Salon downtown, Grimes and his wife also own the Wheelhouse on Linden Avenue in Homewood. Originally from Bessemer, Grimes has lived in Homewood for the past five years, and he said he feels privileged to live in Homewood.

“However, we must use that privilege in such a way that produces significant change in our society,” he said. “To sit by and not speak up for our black brothers and sisters is to be complicit in the violence.”