Re-visiting Rochester to see how some of their older murals have fared.
400 Atlantic Ave. is a brick building that parallels the railway tracks. It was built in 1920 as an Ice Block Factory to service rail cars but has since been converted to offices and storage space.
The view at street level and still looking good – Abstract shapes stretch out along Atlantic in a painting by Italian artist Peeta, aka Manuel Di Rita.
below: On the other side of the building, is Aaron Li-Hill’s “Together we Fall” from 2015 Wall Therapy event.
Across the driveway, at 410 Atlantic –
Perhaps these squares aren’t really considered “street art” as they are more in keeping with the building’s prior use as a children’s centre/school,
but they do help to brighten up an otherwise dull and ordinary section of the street.
below: Brazilian artist Eder Muniz’s mural features vibrantly coloured animals and fantasy creatures dancing and swimming along the wall in their own little parade Blue of water; blue of air.
below: One of the most human-like character in the mural carries a long serpentine pennon in front of an elephant that is either eating a tree or that has tusks growing into trees.
below: At the rear of the parade, a hummingbird (or similar small bird) rides on the back of the elephant.
below: A host of creatures in the mural’s mid-section – walking, sitting, swimming, floating.
below: Humanoid body; leaf head, all smaller than the long skinny bird legs.
below: Instead of leaves, this little guy has a head full of crystals.
below: Faces on creatures of fantasy. One with plumage like a bird and the other with squiggles and curls like nothing else. Eyes closed. Big lips.
below: Swimming together, a greenish fish and a striped snake.
below: More fish swimming in the blue bubbles.
below: Taking the lead in this little parade is a large green beaked bird character. Following along with the fish and the snake is a snail and a pinkish purple frog. There even seems to be a scuba diver.
below: Here’s a closer look at that grinning frog as well as the spotted iguana beside it.
below: And last, the long finned fish gracefully makes it way through the watery blue.
On Crouch Street in Rochester NY, this large face stares out at passers-by. When it was painted by Vexta in 2015, there was a lot more vibrant pink and red in it. What is now pale yellow used to be closer to neon green and yellow.
Time passes and colours fade, but the eyes still stare relentlessly ahead.
Murals in the central part of the city. Some old and some new.
below: Conor Harrington headless duellng men, or one man against himself?
below: It looks like a small blue whale inside a larger transparent whale. It’s called “Detecting Machine” and it was painted by Nevercrew, a pair of artists, Pablo Togni and Christian Rebecchi.
below: Be stronger than your excuses, under the bridge
below: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken
below: ‘The Giant Storybook Project’ by Herakut, painted Oct. 2012, on St. Paul Street
All pictures taken May 2023 except the bottom photo which is from 2015. The mural is still there but I didn’t take another picture of it when I was in Rochester a couple of months ago.
This is another post about some of the murals seen around Rochester. As you may have noticed, there are many!
below: A small tree grows in front of a mural of stripes, rectangles, and other shapes
below: What big feet you have!
below: That foot, and the skin tight boot, belongs to this man, the creation of Swedish artist Andreas Englund who likes to paint people in grey superhero outfits with scanty red pants. This was part of Wall/Therapy 2015.
below: The abstract painting in greens and blues is the work of Nova.
below: Skull surrounded by moths, butterflies and flowers that seem to be growing out of it in a work titled “Cosmos” by Nico Cathcart as part of Wall/Therapy. Painted in Sept 2021.
below: Letters and symbols
below: Pink face but with only one visible eye, by Sam Rodriguez, 2014.
below: Omen (from Montreal) painted this woman lying on her side with her eyes closed.
below: The World is Yours by Queen Andrea (as in Letter Queen!), 2014.
below: Super Fresh
below: Mural by Pixel Pancho, a boy embracing a robot that has seen better days.
below: “Mother” by Maxxer242 aka Max Gramajo, painted in Sept 2021
below: Another mural featuring text.. A Word is an Image, by Shoe aka Niels Shoe Meulman. Image is written in very large letters spread out across the black wall.
below: Four quadrants of an eye and cheekbone is all that remain of a once larger mural by Daze aka Chris Ellis.
Photos taken May 2023
Some of these murals appeared in an earlier blog post titled, “murals, Rochester NY” from Dec 2015.
Most of these are old murals. In fact they were painted in 2013 as part of a Wall Therapy event. Just beyond the wall is a newer painting (that replaces one from 2013).
below: “When reading was a crime I taught myself… When slavery was inflicted, I bought myself… when the internet arrived I lost myself… Finally I’ve acknowledged my ancestors and reclaimed the Earth AS MINE!”
Well, probably not the Mexico you’re thinking of…. I was referring to the village of Mexico in upstate New York.
below: This brick building with the clock tower is the Town Hall in Mexico NY, where one wall is now home to a large mural.
below: The mural illustrates some of the history of the area.
below: The subtitle on the left is La Guerre d’Independance. I am not sure why it is in French.
below: In the center of the mural is a circular coin shaped piece, a Liberty Walking half dollar with the motto “In God We Trust”. It is dated 2004 when the mural was painted.
below: A tribute to the area’s role in the Underground Railroad. Mexico was one of the most active abolitionist and Underground Railroad centers in central New York. Starr Cark (1793-1866) and his wife Harriet Loomis Clark who lived in the village played a central role. Rather than recount the story on this page you can find a link to the National Park Service website describing Star Clark’s Tinshop.
below: The plaque that accompanies the mural states that the artist was Kenneth C. Burke of Syracuse NY. Everyone who donated in support of the mural is also listed as are the members of the Greater Mexico Chamber of Commerce.
below: The old building shown in the mural still exists and looks almost exactly the same – it is directly across the street from the Town Hall.
below: The courtyard behind Boulder Coffee Co. at the corner of Alexander and South Clinton is decorated with street art murals.
below: A closer look at the masked horse and its rider.
below: “Andy and the Big Dead Waltz” by Caitlin Yarsky, 2014
below: A cow of many colours,
below: This black and white mural was painted by Ian Kuali’i, a Hawaiian artist, as part of Wall Therapy 2022 (Wall Therapy is the Rochester Mural Festival). It is on the same building as the cow in the above photo.
below: The next three images feature the campground on the wall of the Rochester Beer Park. RV’s, trailers, and campers of all vintages.
below: This large mural with a very large spider was painted by Nani Chacon and is titled “Visions”. It is painted on the wall of Strangebird Brewery.
below: Change taught me graffiti along with the Black Tabby party “The revolution will not be televised”
below: A small portrait in faded blacks
below: A red, white, and blue butterfly on a pole. A single tear shape falls from the eye on her central wing. A red heart and red lips add colour to her other wings.
below: This rather grotesque character seems to have a life ring around his middle but he’s disintegrating just the same. Food supplied by Snack Shack.
below: Stickers on a yellow sign. Careful! That chicken’s got its eye on you.
below: He or she is a floating, encased in an uncomfortable metal scuba outfit. Humpty Dumpty got tired of sitting on his wall and went for a swim? Tweedledee sank and Tweedledum is looking for him? Or, going back in time, one of those chubby round little people from Fisher Price escaped from the playroom many years ago and has been bobbing around in the ocean ever since. Or?
below: A certain arrangement of paint and stickers
below: No room for Fascism. The Nazi-headed snake has been caught.
below: Approaching Gold, along with a horned animal and an advert for the Abilene bar and lounge.
Just north of the falls, there is a railway bridge that crosses the Niagara River. On the American side of the river is the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center. It is housed in the 1863 Customs House adjacent to the Amtrak station. Niagara Falls was the last stop of one the routes of the Underground Railway, a network of routes and safe houses used by enslaved Black Americans to escape to freedom. It was an established border crossing that was readily accessible via numerous transportation routes, including the Erie Canal. There was a well-established network of abolitionists and anti-slavery activists in western New York. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 freedom seekers settled in Canada.
below: “Enjoy this day that God has given us”, John Lewis (1940-2020) at the corner of Main and Depot in Niagara Falls NY. Lewis was a politician and civil rights activist. This mural was painted by Princessa Williams
below: “We rise by lifting others” by Ashley Kay. This mural honours Doris Jones who was the head of the Niagara Falls Housing Authority for 25 years. Painted in 2019.
below: Harriet Tubman and “A Light of Hope” by Madonna Pannell, 2019. This image references a crossing across the Niagara Suspension Bridge that Tubman made in 1856 with four freedom seekers. The bridge no longer exists but its remains can be seen from the Heritage Center.
below: “Historic Cataract House” by Imani Williamson. the Cataract Hotel was built on the banks of the Niagara River in 1825. It had a wait staff that was entirely African American and these Black waiters often led double lives as secret Underground Railroad agents.
below: “The time is always right to do what is right” by Muhammad Zaman. This is a quote from Martin Luther King Jr’s final sermon on 31st March 1968 at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. The calligraphy is in Bengali, Arabic, and English.
below: Saxophone player with words and music a mural by Edreys Wajed; a portrait of tenor saxophonist and jazz musician John “Spider” Martin.
below: Black Lives Matter, a mural by Ashley Kay and Tyshaun Tyson, 2020
below: Holding signs with slogans and phrases that became synonymous with Black Lives Matter, “Say their names” and “No Justice, No Peace”.
below: “The New Spirit of Niagara Falls” by Jonathan Rogers, 2019
below: Portrait of Calvin “Pop” Porter, a professional boxer, gym owner, and community leader by Jalen Law.
below: This long mural featuring portraits of a number of kids is the work of Sarah Zak.
below: Support All Women, a mural celebrating the empowerment of women, painted by Amira Moore.
below: Uhuru Love, aka Dr. Gloria Daniels Butler, was an artist, educator, and civil rights activist. She adopted the name Uhuru Love in 1965 – Swahili and English words meaning “freedom (is) love”. The mural was painted by Lashonda Davis.
below: “A Niagara Falls Love Story” by Tyshaun Tyson, 2019. Alice Hayes was an active member of the community (her biography is online) and her husband Charles B. Hayes was Niagara Falls first black physician when the couple arrived in the city in 1935.
below: Freedom seekers map, the routes to Niagara Falls. Painted by Natalia Suska, 2019
below: Channeling the energy from the falls to be put toward the pursuit of freedom. “The Niagara Movement” mural by Thomas Asklar and Matthew Conroy. The Niagara Movement was a black civil rights group founded in 1905 by W.E.B. Du Bois (pictured here) and William Monroe Trotter. It was named for the “mighty current” of change the group wanted to effect and took Niagara Falls as its symbol.
below:Aerosol Kingdom (aka Justin Suarez), “Girl with a Snail Earring”. 2021
below: A 2022 mural about Black history and the underground railroad in Niagara Falls in three scenes, painted by Abigail Lee Penfold.
Eyes on the Streets 