A Few of Our Favorite Things: Mural Art

Photos by Plotr Redlinski for the NY Times

191st Beautification Project/NYC

Check out more mural art images here

Six artists out of hundreds who applied, were selected to turn one of the longest (a 5 minute walk) and scariest tunnels into a beautiful, colorful work of art. Once dark and dirty, the city decided to turn this tunnel leading to a subway entrance into an inspiring, eye-opening walk. The walls went from a pale yellow to a colorful, geometric mural. Andrea von Bujdoss, the art duo Jessie Unterhalter & Katey Truhn, Nick Kuszyk, Nelson Rivas, and Fernando Carlo, Jr. were the selected local artist chosen for this project, and they did not disappoint.

Photo by Fontana Studios

Forest for the Trees/Portland

http://www.forestforthetreesnw.com

Forest for the Trees was established in 2013 as a non-profit dedicated to the creation of public art in Portland. Artists, local as well as international, come to create works for this public mural project, often in a collaborative setting. The goal here being to engage the community in the process of art making. The photograph is of just one of many pieces created for Forest for the Trees. ‘To Oregon with Love’ by Blaine Fontana is located on 22nd and Alberta in Portland. Fontana’s work is colorful and often a blend of geometric shapes through more detailed illustrations. Here Fontana’s work is described as a love letter to Portland and humanity, carrying through a positive message by including Andrew Murphy’s quote “You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.”

Photo by Living Walls

Living Walls/Atlanta, GA

www.livingwallsatl.com

Living Walls conference was created to build a Platform for dialog through art, about problems the city is facing. It is a year long and focuses on 1-2 artists at a time, for 1-3 week periods. They want there to be time for the artist to completely immerse themselves into the community where their art is being created. The goal of Living Walls is being able to promote, educate and change perspectives about public space in their neighborhood. Many artists take part although I focused on Trek Matthews. Matthews, who lives in Atlanta, GA but is originally from Wisconsin! His work is very geometric in style and often comments on industrialization and its impact on the Earth and all who live there.