CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The YWCA Charleston unveiled a brand new, spray-painted mural to remember Katherine “Kitty” Dooley, a beloved attorney and activist in the Charleston community.
Kitty Dooley
Dooley, who died almost two weeks ago, practiced law in the Capitol City for over 30 years and dedicated her life to service around the community.
Tyrone Scott, a local artist, was tasked with getting the mural ready on the back wall of the YWCA Kitty Dooley Center for Community Enrichment.
“We’re pretty much trying to make remembrance of her life. She did a lot for the community and we’re just trying to put all of her things that she’s done in one little mural, but we’re going to make it into a bigger mural in the future,” he said.
Scott’s art features Dooley on the far right of the wall with a butterfly, a dove, the scales of justice, roses, and a Hello Kitty character next to her.
“I think it’s absolutely fabulous. He caught the essence of Kitty,” said YWCA Charleston CEO Sonya Hairston. “From the photo that you see when you walk in, it’s so beautiful that you feel like you’re looking into Kitty’s eyes when you’re looking at that.”
Hairston says each detail that Scott perfected represented a special feature that Dooley had.
“When looked at it, I saw the metamorphosis of the butterfly, I saw the gentleness of the dove, I saw the justice that she embodied with the weights, and then with Hello Kitty, she had that fun side to her too,” Hairston said.
According to Hairston, Dooley was not just a good volunteer around the area, but rather a perfect example of what the YWCA stands for.
“I would describe her as the embodiment of the YWCA’s mission because our mission is ‘Eliminating racism, empowering women, promoting peace, justice, dignity, and freedom for all,’ and she walked that out every single day of her life,” she said.
Scott told MetroNews that he didn’t get a chance to know Dooley well before she passed, but he’s learned a lot about her legacy in a short period of time.
“Once I really started doing research on her, I was amazed at how much stuff she’s done because there’s probably a lot of people in this area that have so much talent and so many things that don’t get noticed, and I’m one of those people that didn’t know about these things. Now I want to learn more about her,” Scott said.