Murals Alive

Public art has been a constant since the cave dwellers of Lascaux used a stick of burnt wood to graffiti  the walls and ceilings of their nomadic environmental refuges. Aesthetically beautifying spaces,  commemorating pertinent events, people, or causes, public art is a tool of  communication,  documentation, and community strengths. Created under the watchful eyes of renowned cultural  councils or under the cover of night, guerrilla-style, with a simple stencil, public art serves as a vehicle of  expression for the masses.

A key denominator of all public art is the creation of a free viewing sphere for all humanity,  circumventing the niche of the relatively small population of museum and gallery visitors. Public art has  evolved to both include and represent artists initiated as well as commercially motivated projects. The  relationship of the work has its audience at the forefront while engaging the intended message of the  artist as an almost subliminal impact open to many interpretations. Critiques abound as the uneducated  public art arena grows in a judgmental society peppered with the conflict of political and artistic trends.  Public art is everywhere, and the imagery is multiplying with a new language speaking to the masses …  and the masses speak too, offering expressions of support and interest. Artists are attracted to the  possibilities awarded in public art feeling that the traditional art world is exclusionary and often limiting.

Public art encourages diversity in materials, medium, and process, allowing for a new creative freedom.  Curator and art critic Patricia Phillips believes that there “is still an indifference to the creating of the  kind of sustained theoretical or critical framework required to transform ideas and impressions into  meaningful relationships and connections.” Community values are expressed with the desire to elevate  our awareness, transform our environment, and question our suppositions. Diverse opinions are  imminent, acknowledging a healthy public environment.

The best part of creating public art is the dramatic transformation of a blank space into a visual trophy.  The unnoticed void becomes beautiful and noteworthy. This birth of engagement and beauty in a  neglected space, is why I love to produce public art. When I see the happy smiles from committed  onlookers, I know that my efforts were worth the work.  Each interaction becomes a love letter to art  advocates equally proud of a worthwhile project. My murals begin with an idea that churns until  fragments of a vision appear, awaiting inspiration to create an entire portrait of the project. I  understand that art alters the feel of a space, and how people interact within that space. I focus on the  task at hand and how my outcome will change the space and affect the lives, attitudes, and emotions of  the viewers. I look forward to creating something beautiful and the opportunity to positively affect your  home and community.