Chemainus, British Columbia:

The first planned "Mural City" in North America, Chemainus was a small ex-logging town, with a dismal future and active brain drain, when Karl Schutz and friends had a vision and worked hard to make it a reality: professional artists painting on walls of downtown buildings. In addition to the fabulous murals, there are horse-drawn carriages, coaches, and a train available for tours. More information is available at the Chemainus Chamber of Commerce (250)246-3944.

Toppenish, Washington:

ADMIRED MURALISTS:

William Cochran Of Frederick, Maryland, Community Bridge: his "trompe l'oeil" bridge builds links among the many elements of his community. Shared Vision is the community organization in Frederick committed to the painting of this 5 year project. To visit his site:

Kent Twitchell: Los Angeles muralist who creates large scale highly realistic murals of individuals, famous and non-famous. One of the Los Angeles' most honored muralists, Twitchell executed a number of highly visible and distinctive murals in the Los Angeles area. Completed works in downtown are the "Ed Ruscha Monument" (1987) at 1031 S. Hill, "Seventh Street Altar Piece" (1984) along the Harbor Freeway (largely destroyed by graffiti), the "Gary Lloyd Monument" (1983) at Towne and Fifth (painted out) and "Harbor Freeway Overture" (1992) on a parking structure overlooking the Harbor Freeway. To view Twitchell's "Dr. J" go to Murals In Time. Here is a link to his site:

Diego Rivera: (1886-1957)DIEGO RIVERA (1886-l957), Born in Guanajuato Mexico, he studied in the San Carlos Academy and in the carving workshop of artist José Guadalupe Posada. Later in Paris, he received the influence of post-modernism and cubism, the mediums in which he expressed himself with ease. Diego Rivera with the use of classicist, simplified and colorful painting recovered the pre-columbian past catching the most significant moments in mexican history: the earth, the farmer, the laborer, the custumes and popular characters. Diego was a revolutionary painter managing a precise, direct, and realist style, full of social content.
A wonderful virtual museum of his work:

Eric Grohe: In Toppenish, on two outside walls of the American Hop Museum you will discover false architectural features painted on an otherwise plain, stucco surface. When visiting the Toppenish murals site, visit the murals of 1994 to view Grohe's work. Along one wall are three archways which open as windows onto a series of hop-industry scenes. The middle scene depicts hop harvest as a family affair in the earliest style of hop yards around the turn of the century. The scene is painted from various photos of the time, featuring a beautiful Zillah woman in the foreground picking hops by hand into a basket. The left panel shows the planting and training of the hop yard in the spring. The right panel shows the bailing, inspection, and marketing of the finished product.

John Pugh An artist who specializes in creating the illusion of "trompe l'oeil"

ADMIRED PROJECTS:

SAN FRANCISCO:

Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center, established in 1977 in San Francisco's Mission District, is a non-profit multipurpose community arts organization that sponsors and implements ongoing mural projects. It began as a community mural workshop organized by current director Susan Cervantes. The workshop articipants designed and painted a portable mural on plywood panels, "Masks of God, Soul of a man'. Now the Precita Eyes offers mural and art classes for children and youth. More than 20,000 students and tourists have walked from Precita Eyes as the starting point for the mural tours encompassing more than 80 murals in an 8 block walk.

PHILADELPHIA:

. The PDR Mural Arts Program (MAP) is a city-supported public art program that works with neighborhood residents, young people, artists, and a wide variety of public and private organizations to create murals of enduring value that reflect the aspirations and experience of the city's diverse communities. Established in 1984 as part of the Anti-Graffiti Network and incorporated in 1996 as part of the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, MAP sees its role as a "public service," bringing art and art education at no charge to communities.

MAP has painted more than 1,770 murals on public walls throughout the city, as well as at schools, recreation centers, and public housing complexes. This "outdoor gallery" of murals is the largest of its kind, making Philadelphia the mural capital of the country.

Most murals are developed in partnership with the communities where they are located. Neighborhood residents are consulted on the design and subject of the murals, which often present themes of community importance, such as "Safe Streets," "A Celebration of Community," and "Peace Wall." MAP receives up to 50 requests a week for murals and paints between 70 and 80 each year.

. Philadelphia Courthouse Mural: Art with Philadelphia Elderly. A two part project, Cooper and his assistants gathered oral histories of people's life stories and painted murals representing these stories of elderly in Philadelphia. Douglas Cooper, Artist: E-mail Douglas Cooper at dcooper+@andrew.cmu.edu

OTHER SOURCES FOR LINKING MURALISTS AND UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT MURALS AND MURALISTS

THE MURAL CONSERVANCY of LOS ANGELES: works to bind the efforts of arts professionals, volunteers, donors and local government to support maintenance, public awareness, and documentation of our outdoor murals.

Robin Dunitz: An author for the past 10 years, she is on the Board of Directors of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles and organizes its popular monthly public mural bus tours. She is currently working on a book of murals by African-American artists around the U.S. from 1850-present.

Ms. Dunitz has developed a mural resource page MuralArt.com which includes links and books to order, several informational sections on murals and a section on African-American muralists.

SPARC: Social and Public Art Resource Center: SPARC is a community-based non-profit arts organization founded by muralist Judith F. Baca, filmmaker Donna Deitch and Artist Christina Schlesinger. SPARC is dedicated to producing, presenting and preserving public artworks. The organization is particularly committed to work that reflects the lives and concerns of America's diverse ethnic populations, women, working people, youth and the elderly. SPARC's ultimate purpose is to examine what we choose to memorialize through public art, and to devise and innovate means which not only produce excellent art pieces but also provide vehicles for the betterment of community through a participatory process. SPARC works are never simply individually authored endeavors, but rather a collaboration between artists and local residents, resulting in art which arises from within the community rather than being imposed upon it.

The Mural Resource Page: Excellent links and information from Talahasee, Florida, includes great fresco history and technique pages from the Arts Foundation of Michigan by Richard and Deborah Zuccarini.

RESEARCH CONCEPT DESIGN JENNIE WILLIAMS and JOHN AVERY
BUTTONS:
1) DETAIL OF WILLIAM COCHRAN'S "THE LIGHT WITHIN"
2) DETAIL OF DIEGO RIVERA'S "CREACION"

If you have suggestions for muralists or public art projects that you admire: E-Mail Us below.