Posts Tagged ‘phoenix’

Phoenix Public Market Mural

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Downtown Phoenix has a public market every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening where you can find a lot of local produce, food items, and arts and crafts. They also have their own mural on a building that faces the parking lot (the back of the Southwestern Litho building at 710 North 1st Street).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a signature and I don’t know anything about it. The mural seems to stress the sense of community which is what the Public Market is all about.

The Downtown Phoenix Public Market is a program of  Community Food Connections, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. “The Market marks the spot where community revitalization, economic development and a showcase for local small-scale agriculture and local artists and crafters intersect in the heart of the city…”

The Downtown Phoenix Public Market is at 721 North Central Avenue on the southeast corner of Central and McKinley Street. Look for the mural next time you’re there and check out the lizard.

Roy and Revolver Records

Monday, November 1st, 2010

It’s too bad the dumpster and car are there but this is an urban area where it can be hard to get an unobstructed daytime view. Roy Sproule, who I wrote about in my last mural post, completed this mural at Revolver Records at 918 N. 2nd Street (right by many of the other murals I’ve written about) in August 2010. He was scheduled to be deployed to Korea with the U.S. Air Force shortly thereafter but I’m not certain that has occurred.

There are some great photos of Roy painting the mural which, once again, he is donating, here.

These are the words Billie Holiday is singing…

I hope Roy is able to do more murals in Downtown Phoenix because he is certainly making it a brighter place.

Big Mural at Valley Youth Theatre

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Another huge mural graces Downtown Phoenix, on the Valley Youth Theater’s corporate office at 807 N. 3rd Street. Roy Frank Sproule III, an avionics technician with the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Luke AFB, west of Phoenix, came upon the 69 x 11 foot wall during one of Phoenix’ famous First Fridays in 2007. He had never painted a large-scale mural on his own but, after spending six months putting a portfolio together, he approached the staff at the theater and his idea was met with enthusiasm.

He began painting in March 2008 and spent 17 months working on the mural, all while working at his full-time job in the Air Force. He donated his time (2,000 hours) and his own money to the project in order to build his profile.

Roy was given 20 years of photographs of the Valley Youth Theatre’s productions and, from these, he made a collage of over 50 photographs to fill the 759-square-foot wall. He then outlined the shapes with charcoal dust, a technique used by fresco painters during the Renaissance, using perforated patterns created in Photoshop. Interesting that his technique used technologies spanning centuries.

I’m embarrassed to say that I only recognize a few of the productions represented as theater is not my main cultural interest. Can you identify them?

There are several articles on this project, including Roy’s views of what a mural should mean to a community–he thinks the community should benefit by it–and the artist’s role in creating it. Here is another and at this site is a list of several more.

Roy has another large mural in Downtown Phoenix, finished just this last August, that I’ll write about in my next mural post.

Riding that Train…

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

…high on coffee.

I saw this mural months ago when I didn’t have my camera with me. I couldn’t remember where it was but Friday, while out driving, I saw it again on Central Avenue in mid-town Phoenix. It’s right by where the METRO Light Rail runs, covering an abandoned building. It’s interesting because it’s 3-dimensional.

I heard it’s from a coffee advertisement.  Do you recognize it?

Next time you’re on the Light Rail heading Downtown, look on the east side of Central at Columbus Avenue, and check this out. And, when you get Downtown, stop for some coffee at Fair Trade Cafe at 1020 N. Central Avenue, behind Trinity church, or Fair Trade at Civic Space Park at 424 N. Central Avenue. Fair Trade offers “Coffee with a Conscience.”

Heading Downtown?

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Next time you’re heading Downtown to your favorite restaurant, gallery, concert, sports event, First Friday, Third Friday, Phoenix Public Market, or one of the many upcoming 20 Years of Progress events, take Indian School Road and you can catch a couple of interesting murals that don’t quite qualify as Downtown Phoenix art, geographically. On the northeast corner of 20th Street and Indian School, check out one of the most famous icons of all. Marilyn Monroe graces the Truckmasters building at 2020 E. Indian School Road. The view is actually better if you turn north onto 20th Street and look to your right.

MM long

MM Torso

MM Face

I haven’t found out anything about the artist, signed “Medina ’02.”

Two blocks west, as you keep heading toward Downtown, on 19th Street, just north of Indian School, you will see this elaborate mural.

Convertible 1

Good thing there wasn’t much traffic because she didn’t have her eyes on the road.

Convertible 2

What’s she doing? Oh, she’s towing her boyfriend, who is lucky enough to be beating the heat.

Water Skier

This trompe l’oeil goes on and on up the street.

Mural Long Shot

Mural Longer Shot

It’s all part of this building’s property.

Wave on Bldg 2

Wave on Bldg

X Gate Close

Pretty colorful for a commercial building. We used to see the artist painting this mural, little by little, in the evenings a few years ago but I never found out his name nor do I see it anywhere obvious on the mural. This building, unfortunately, seems to be a casualty of the economy as it appears vacant and has a “For Sale” sign. Hopefully, its next owner will find it as interesting and fanciful as I do and leave it intact.

Part of the journey Downtown is getting there and these interesting murals will add a little color to your trip.

El Pueblo Unido

Monday, September 27th, 2010

This large, vivid mural in the Garfield district, between 11th and 12th Streets on Roosevelt, is 6 feet tall by 95 feet long. Its actual title is Knowledge Breaks Down Barriers Created by Ignorance and is the work of Raul Gonzalez, an L.A. based artist, and many youth of the Garfield District. A community activist, Ginae Klasek, states, “The mural was designed and created by youth and depicts what is important to them, which includes family, culture, justice, and education.”

The mural was officially unveiled on September 18th. You can read more about it here.

Concentration (Matching Murals Downtown)

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Now that I’m becoming an “old pro” at mural-hunting, it’s a little like the old Concentration game. I keep coming across muralists whose work I’ve seen before and recognize either by the style or by their signature. Where was the other one(s) by this person?

This one, in the heart of the Roosevelt Row arts district (at Pravus Gallery, 501 E. Roosevelt Street), was done by “Elmac Kofie.” See the signature on the upper left above. I know I’ve seen that name before (actually this mural is a collaboration by Elmac and his friend, Kofie). Elmac is very prolific and has painted murals all over the world. You can see more of his work on his blog.

Oh, yeah, I saw it a mile or two away a couple of weeks ago in another section of the arts district at 1105 Grand Avenue. And now that I look at both of them, they look very similar to one I saw at Zao Gallery/Universal Hair Salon (925 Grand Avenue) recently.

Yes, down there on the left side, amidst her hair, is “Elmac.” The signature is a little different but the style is the same. This was a couple blocks away from the one above it. And back to the one above it:

Next to the Elmac mural is one by Lalo Cota, who I wrote about in my Calaveras post, including this one by him above. Murals at three different locations were shown in that post and now here is another one by Lalo, distinct in its style:

This van is outside Conspire, a coffeehouse/artist-run shop, at 901 N. 5th Street. The walls of Conspire have more murals by Lalo.

It’s pretty fun getting accustomed to their styles and coming across them all over downtown Phoenix. Every time I go out to photograph a mural, I seem to see or hear about some other ones. This project could go on for a long time. Hopefully, you will go out and see them in person and let me know of others that you have seen Downtown in the Comments section.

Tropical Island In Central Phoenix

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

On a little office building in Central Phoenix, at 119 W. McDowell Road, is a little touch of paradise, not a scene you will find naturally anywhere close by…except for the palm trees.

It’s a little tamer than some of the other murals around; a little more serene.

It’s by Airwolf Airbrush. I don’t know if that’s a person or a company.

Kinda pretty, a little escape from the desert heat. It makes me want to go to the beach. How about you?

<br>

More Murals on Roosevelt

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

In the same alley in the 400 block of East Roosevelt Street (between eye lounge and Modified Arts), as one of the Lalo Cota murals in my Calaveras post, there are quite a few other colorful murals.

Um, let’s lose the billboard. We Phoenicians would like to see an unobstructed view of a frolicking snow scene. This one is by Joe Pagac of Tucson, and Stephanie Michalsky advertising the National at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe Oct. 14.

Here’s the view again of the side of the alley with Lalo Cota’s mural. I don’t know who did the mustachioed guy. And here is the other side of the alley:

Once again, this alley is behind several galleries and shops in the heart of the Downtown arts district. This building above, at the end of the alley on Garfield Street, had some renovating going on while I was photographing and it looks like it may be a new gallery or possibly some other business soon.

More murals to come…

Calaveras

Friday, August 27th, 2010

I love Day of the Dead art, the calaveras (skulls) associated with the primarily Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos. Some people (usually non-Mexicans) find it creepy, depressing, or just strange but, like the holiday, that is not the intention. The holiday occurs on Nov. 2, in conjunction with the Catholic observances of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 1 and 2). It is a day to remember friends and family who have died but it is a time of celebration, where partying is common.

Because of Phoenix’s  large Mexican-American population, celebrations of this holiday are common and, more and more, so are displays of the art, year-round. The above mural is in the Downtown arts district at 1105 Grand Avenue. It is by Lalo Cota, a Phoenix artist born in Mexico.

Several blocks away, on Roosevelt Row, is this new mural, on the side of Carly’s Bistro at 128 E. Roosevelt Street. Lalo painted this one with his collaborators, Pablo Luna and Thomas Marcus (aka Breeze).

These are such fun murals. About two blocks down the street, in the alley between eye lounge (419 E. Roosevelt Street) and Modified Arts (407 East Roosevelt Street), there are more Lalo Cota murals.

The sun was shining so brightly during this late afternoon that there is a glow on the mural but maybe that is appropriate.

There is another Lalo Cota mural around the corner at Conspire (901 N. 5th Street) but it was extremely hot that afternoon so I decided to leave it for another day…and another post. Check these murals out next time you’re in the area and get a little of that Day of the Dead feeling.