painted on the parking structures

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Mary C

Parking garages, especially large structures, can usually be described as boring and ugly, i.e. they aren’t great to look at. Downtown Tampa has a large parking structure that was decorated with street art murals back in 2015.

below: William F. Poe Parking Garage on North Ashley Drive is now home to “Stay Curious” a series of murals by artists Tes One (aka Leon Bedore) and Bask (aka Ales Hostomsky), with contributions by the Vitale Brothers.

below: The text says “Stay Curious”

below: Nearby is a Marriott Hotel (at the corner of North Franklin and East Tyler) and this is what they did to their parking garage.

mural, abstract in shades of blue on the marriott hotel in tampa

below: Another corner of another garage

below: It’s not a mural or a painting but it’s a colorful and fascinating way of covering the exterior of a parking structure. This is DOTS, by sculptor and artist Christian Moeller and it consists of 119 aluminum alloy discs. Each disc is almost 6 feet across and weighs about 40 pounds. They cover the parking part of a new University of Tampa residence building.

large metal discs, as art, cover the exterior of a parking garage, 119 discs, called dots, by artist Christian Moeller

After a quick google search on parking garage art, I have decided that this has become a “thing”. Very trendy by the looks of it.

Photos taken April 2022

downtown heroes and a chicken too

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Mary C

Seen in Tampa

below: A mural by Audrey Jennifer and Matt Kress

downtown Tampa street with mural by Matt Kress and Audrey Jennifer of Ray Charles in a purple bowtie and quarterback Tom Brady in his Buccaneers uniform, number 12

below: This mural was painted in time for Super Bowl LV which was held in Tampa, and featured a Tampa team in the game. Sport and music combined with a star from each – Ray Charles on the left.

below: And on the right, Number 12 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Tom Brady.

below: He even wore a mask for Covid! This portrait of Tom Brady was painted by Kyle Holbrook.

below: Tampa Bay also has a hockey team!, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Number 45 for the Buccaneers is linebacker Devin White. This “Champa Bay” mural was a collaboration between Kyle Holbrook and Ania Amador.

mural with Tampa Bay shoreline, water, as well as a football player and a hockey player

below: “All for Love!” says the rooster (chicken?) on the side of Branscomb Hall at The Portico (part of Hyde Park United Methodist Church) although the title of the mural is actually “For the Love of THIS City”. It was painted by Michelle Sawyer and Tony Krol who work together under the name Illsol.

“For the Love of THIS City”. It was painted by Michelle Sawyer and Tony Krol who work as Illsol. A chicken, two alligators, a heron, some local flowers, and some other Tampa symbols,

below: It features local wildlife living in harmony… like alligators and herons and … chickens? Apparently Ybor City chickens are famous?! This one looks a little grouchy.

close up of chicken and alligator and heron and other wildlife in Illsol mural at The Portico, Hyde Park Methodist church

Photos taken April 2022

on a Bushwick corner

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Mary C

On St. Nicholas Ave where it meets Scott Avenue….

A number of artists created this tribute to David Jude Jolicoeur, who rapped as Trugoy the Dove in the trio De La Soul. He passed away in February 2023 at the age of 54. It was painted during the 2023 Bushwick Block Party this past summer and involved a number of artists (Enjoy Hads, Six Million Dollar Steve, Mr. Makro, Brandy, and Sure78 and more? )

below: On one of the walls there is a portrait of Biggie Smalls (1972-1997) also known as The Notorious B.I.G., a rapper and hip hop artist who was born and raised in Brooklyn. It was painted by Danielle Mastrion

below: Up high on the roof, figures by stik, holding hands and looking down at passers by.

below: “La Bodega” was a collaborative effort by Zack Curtis and Danny Cortes

Photos taken August 2023

Inti, Aurora and the Heerlen sign

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Mary C

A title that succinctly describe this scene:

three dimensional letters spelling Heerlen in front of an apartment complex with a large mural by inti on the front of it

below: “Creed” by Chilean artist Inti

large mural by Inti on the side of a midrise apartment block

A woman, Madonna-like? or in a Muslim head scarf?….. holding an olive branch which is a symbol of peace, but she’s wearing an ammo belt around her waist.

part of a larger mural, a person with a belt of bullets around their waist, and a shirt in camoflauge colours.

part of a larger mural, person with anatomical looking red heart on chest, and holding an olive branch, by inti

Aurora refers to the buildings covered in the brightly coloured stripes, a work by the Spanish artist collective Boa Mistura. It includes the test, “In het hart van elke winter leeft een trillende lente” which translates to “In the heart of every winter lives a vibrating spring”. The artwork covers 228 apartment units and is probably the largest mural in Europe.

apartment building, residential, with stripes in yellow, oranges, and purples, with a text, a quote from Kahlil Gibran

In front of the apartment complex is a large 3-D sign spelling the name of the city, Heerlen. When it was first installed, it was orange. Now it has been enhanced with some DazeTwo ravens and crows at one end ….

the H and E letters, 3 D, painted with crows and ravens in various positions

…. and the ending letters were decorated by Amber Delahaye with other elements from nature such as mushrooms, butterflies, and flowers.

last three letters of Heerlen sign, capital letters, L, E, and N, painted with butterflies, mushrooms, and flowers

NOTE: The quote on the buildings is taken from one by Kahlil Gibran which says: “In every winter’s heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn”

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals were in the previous post, “more Heerlen birds”

more Heerlen birds

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Mary C

There are many murals and other great street art works in Heerlen. There are too many for one blog post so I have tried to find a way to show them in small sections that make some sort of sense. My previous post (the workmen and the black birds) contained photos of the ravens or crows that DazeTwo features in most of his work so in this post I will continue with more bird themed murals.

below: Two snuggling bluebirds painted by Daniel MacLloyd

below: A massive heron with a collection of items that help represent Heerlen, a mural best seen from the other side of the railway tracks, or better yet from a train as it enters the city. The “Heerlen Heron” was painted seven years ago by Vincent Lancee and Dave de Leeuw.

below: Another collaborative effort, this time DazeTwo teamed up with fellow Heerlen artist, Ivan Sanda (aka MF Ivan), to produce an image of a woman whose head is also that of a raven.

below: High above the street a yellow bird in a cage. The canary in the coal mine? by Collin van der Sluijs.

below: Dzia’s little blue chicken on Willemstraat.

below: And last, a quick bird head in the semi darkness under a bridge.

Photos taken October 2023

Platanenweg ten + one

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Mary C

The “If Walls Could Speak” festival in 2019 was an Amsterdam Street Arts (ASA) project whose aim was to create 10 large murals, each on the end of a row of apartments on Platanenweg in Amsterdam Oost. These are the ten murals.

Blue metal sign affixed to brick building, street sign, Platanenweg, in Amsterdam

below: First, “In Case of Lost Childhood, Break Glass” by Leon Keer.

below: This mural is a Sjem Bakkus & IVES.one collaboration and is titled “De appel valt niet ver van de boom.” (in English: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree).

mural by cobra on the end of a lowrise apartment building, cursive word cobra, a bright red apple, a mouth with a mustache in black and white

close up of part of cobra mural, painting of bright green apple beside a real window

below: A mural by British artist Dan Kitchener of a Japanese Geisha as well as a street scene on a rainy night.

mural by Dan Kitchener, Japanese geisha girl

mural by Dan Kitchener, street scene in Japan city on a rainy night, Japanese geisha girl

mural by Dan Kitchener, street scene in Japan city on a rainy night

below:aka Painting by Studio Giftig (aka Niels van Swaemen and Kaspar van Leek) – a bare footed woman in mid-air with a few pigeons.

Large mural by Studio Giftig,Niels van Swaemen and Kaspar van Leek, of a woman and a pigeon

part of Studio Giftig mural, pigeon beside a small real balcony

close up of woman in mural by studio giftig

below: A bird with pink, green, and turquoise feathers is keeping an eye on the balcony. It was painted by Dopie.

large mural on the side of an apartment building, a large bird, with pink head, green neck, turquoise and green body, pink legs and feet.

below: Lots of arms and hands holding boxes in a mural with the title of “Carrying Belongings” by Case Maclaim.

mural by Case Maclaim, hands holding boxes, on the side of an apartment building in Amsterdam

below: A boy under a tree with a creature (dragon?) in his hands. The text says “When it comes to settling disputes, compassion is more useful than magic”. It was painted by German artist Hera (one half of the artistic partnership, Herakut).

a young black boy kneels under a tree with a small dragon in his hands. a second dragon sits on a branch of the tree and is looking down. Text in the mural says When it comes to settling disputes, compassion is more useful than magic

below: The symbol of Amsterdam, the three white X’s on a black stripe with a red background. It is based on the city’s coat of arms which features a red shield with a black band and three silver St. Andrew’s crosses. The same design is found on the Amsterdam flag. Mural was painted by Kash (aka Friso Kasher) and Chuck (or Chuckone)

mural with symbol of Amsterdam on it, red background, black stripe with three white St. Andrews crosses

below: This girl and her little pink heart are part of a large mural by Julieta XJF, “Wherever you come from, here you are welcome.”

part of a large mural by Julieta XJF, a girl with bangs (hair fringe) is holding a little pink heart

mural with a large white bird and a girl with little pink heart in her hand

below: Three of the buildings with the murals on them.

a street scene, three lowrise apartment buildings with murals painted on the street facing side, trees,

below: “Beter een goede buur, dan een verre vriend.” (English: “Better a good neighbor than a distant friend.”) is the title of this mural by Smug One. mural by Smug One, an older man's portrait, wearing light blue baseball cap and light blue hoodie

Smug One mural of an older man, large, on the end of an apartment building

below: Although it wasn’t part of the 2019 festival, this mural by DFace is across the street from the others. “I feel so incomplete” reads the text. It is actually a few years older than the other murals that I have shown here.

D Face mural in the style of Roy Lichtenstein, a blonde woman with bright red lipstick looking back over her shoulder, with text, I feel so incomplete

under a Heerlen bridge

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Mary C

There are two murals, bright eye catching red helping to hold up a bridge in Heerlen. They were both painted by Brazillian artist Finok, aka Raphael Sagarra, in 2014. The first mural is painted in mostly white, red, and green… three masks, a fish, and a chicken-like creature.

mural by finok, bright red background, 3 faces, one fish pointing upwards

On the same bridge, across the street, is another Finok mural. It too is on a red background. Is the fish about to eat the white headed guy? Or like a genie, has he just been conjured from the fish’s mouth? Whatever the backstory is, the white headed guy looks rather frightened.

mural on bright red background, on bridge overpass

photos taken October 2023

Ybor City murals

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Mary C

Ybor City is an historic neighbourhood close to downtown Tampa Florida. It was founded in the 1880s and was home to a large immigrant population, many of whom were employed in cigar making factories. The cigar industry, and the city, flourished from the 1890s to the Great Depression of the 1930s when demand for cigars dropped.

below: Viva Ybor! Painted by Chico Garcia in 2012. It features a portrait of Vincente Martinez Ybor who brought the cigar making industry to this part of Florida.

Viva Ybor mural with Cuban flags, a rooster, I love Ybor, a portrait of Vincente Ybor for whom the city is named after

below: Faded paintings of Ybor City scenes

Faded mural, paintings in panels, cars, buildings,

below: The 1920s – with old cars

faded painting of 1920s street scene with old cars on the street

below: Historic buildings

faded paintings of 2 historic buildings in Ybor City

below: The far righthand side of the mural

below: Rolling cigars

women sitting around a table rolling cigars, in history mural in Ybor City Florida

Photos taken in April 2022

Bushwick bears, bees, and other animals

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Mary C

below: Bees with pink and blue translucent wings on a brick wall with a bear keeping a watchful eye on them.

part of a mural, two bees around a real light on a brick wall

mural on a wall beside a closed door, a bear is sitting on the ground, leaning on door, with a bee buzzing above his body

below: Honeybee

below: A mural by Hiraku with cats

…. or perhaps humans in cat costumes. Love and peace and a frilly tutu.

mural by hiraku of human-like cats, or people in cat costumes,

below: More cats, cats climbing up the wall, signed by eunice.music (aka Eunice Brito) and kosuke_james

narrow vertical mural on exterior wall, white cats climbing up a cat climbing frame

below: A concerned looking cat – maybe the ball and chain around his leg is going to be a problem?

below: The yellow and red background pattern was painted by 7 Line Art Studio (aka Duel Ris) and I suspect that the dog was added later by someone else.

below: A second dog, this one in bold shapes and bright primary colours.

large mural of a stylized dog with red body and blue head, and big white floppy ears with yellow and blue diamond shapes, yellow and white spots all over body, red tongue sticking out, yellow button nose

Photos taken August 2023

a little parade

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Mary C

… at Atlantic & Crouch, Rochester

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.

mural by Eder Muniz in Rochester, long mural with lots of animals such as snake, fish, humming bird, elephant, some real and some more from fantasy such as creature with bunch of leaves for a head

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.

Part of a mural by Eder Muniz, on blue background, small elf like character carrying a pole with a long banner on the wnd of it, an elephant following behind, with a bird sitting on the back of the elephant looking backwards

below: At the rear of the parade, a hummingbird (or similar small bird) rides on the back of the elephant.

purplish bird with long beak sitting on a decorated fabric on the back of an elephant

below: A host of creatures in the mural’s mid-section – walking, sitting, swimming, floating.

middle section of Eder Muniz mural, creatures sitting, walking, and swimming through watery blue, bubbles, fish, birds,

below: Humanoid body; leaf head, all smaller than the long skinny bird legs.

part of a mural, sitting person but with head made of green leaves floating and billowing in the blue water

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.

part of a mural, a green fish swimming beside a snake striped in pastel colours

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.

right hand side of a long mural on bright blue background, fish, snakes, birds, and other creatures

below: Here’s a closer look at that grinning frog as well as the spotted iguana beside it.

part of a mural with fantasy animals, a purple frog, a blue spotted iguana,

below: And last, the long finned fish gracefully makes it way through the watery blue.

Mural painted in 2015
Photos taken mid- May 2023

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: murals