The classic doc Style Wars flashes back to the days of graffiti "bombing" or "writing" on subway trains in New York City in the early '80s, and the subculture of painters that started a movement that grew bigger than any of them could ever have imagined. American's version of Punk and New Wave music was pouring out of the Mudd Club and CBGB's, as bands like Blondie inspired the young artists. Hip-hop and breakdancing were spawned on the streets by groups with names like "Rock Steady" and "The Dynamic Rockers," the physical expression associated with the visual art movement that street art has become.
Although graffiti art started as simply as writing a name or tag, it was the way a writer could make a mark on a train and see it move all around the city that appealed to many of the youth. In that tradition, many street artists who produce public art often use a pseudonym rather than their given names, such as 123Klan, Evoca1, Shark Toof, Pep Rally, Morning Breath, Acut and Pale Horse.
Some of those artists with aliases were in attendance at a packed screening of Style Wars at The Studio@620 Saturday night. The event kicked off the SHINE mural festival in St. Petersburg on Sept. 1. Artist Tes One (Leon Bedore, the event director), John Collins, event sponsor (executive director of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance) and community relations organizer Diane Shelly were there, with Shelly introducing the film and providing information about the mural festival in progress. SHINE Artist Chad Mize sported the logo T-shirt that is offered for sale.
You can now pick up the SUBAP! X SHINE Mural Festival Special Edition, which is chock full of photographs of artwork by participating artists, interviews, and a map of the mural locations being created around downtown St. Pete. The information is also on the Suburban Apologist web site. The cover art is from a truly glorious mural painted by Tes One and Pale Horse.
The SHINE mural festival, from Sept. 1 -12, will provide the city of St. Petersburg with more than 10 new large murals on downtown walls, painted by local and visiting artists, all hand-picked by curator Tes One. Additional art exhibits and events will be held, such as this film that opened the festival.
Diane Shelly, executive director of Florida CraftArt, said of the youth in the movie, "I can't help but wonder… where are they today, and what are they doing now? What have they become?"
Chad Mize, known for his "Twiggy" and "Mr. Sun" murals, recently worked with local kids to produce the large community mural at The Amsterdam. He worked with Artist James Oleson and Mitzi Gordon to teach young students at the SHINE Art Camp, held at Bloom Art Center. The camp culminated in the students helping to paint the giant word "SHINE" in block letters. Zulu Painter, who has covered quite a lot of square footage at Bloom with mural art, assisted with teaching the group, along with Carla Bristol, Courtney Walker, Maureen McDole and other volunteers. Photos MIze took of the project in various stages showed how the art was created by the group.
"We were looking for kids who were interested in art to work on the mural," said Mize. "We spent a whole week teaching them art concepts at Bloom while the mural was underway. We used the mural to help illustrate design ideas, having each letter stand for something. We told them that S is for Scale, H is for Hues, I is for Inspiration, N is for Narrative, and E was for Expression."
In recent years, new murals have been created that are now embraced and enjoyed by the community. St. Petersburg is becoming known as a "city of the arts." Some artists want to make their mark by participating in the revitalization of the downtown area. They love to paint. They need to paint. These artists will paint murals even if they are not paid for their work, scrounging up the paint and supplies, whether donated by area sponsors or paid for by the building owners.
Some of these local artists feel that the exposure that public art provides is an investment in their careers and worth their time to do gratis as a donation to our community. Artists hope that people will see their mural work and then commission them to do the next one in a home or business and pay them for their labor. Many who see an artist's work as a public painting on the side of a building would never have otherwise viewed his or her work, in a gallery or online. As more murals appear, the community regards them with the respect they deserve.
The murals are becoming landmarks around the city. The city supports the murals as long as they do not include advertising and as long as they are done legally with the building or business owner's permission. No longer confined to the few blocks downtown, murals are being done in all five of the arts districts -— The Grand Central District, The Warehouse Arts District, The Edge, The Waterfront Arts District and the Central Arts District — that make up "one great arts destination."
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2015.