Location: 3123 N. Davidson Street side wall at Fat City Lofts
Artists: OBSOE, REBUS, ALOHA, JAFAR
Date: 2008
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @joeyobso, @bigtroublestudios
Story: On the side wall of Fat City Lofts condominium complex, four artists created a mural with connections to the former Fat City Deli. Look closely at the N. Davidson Street facade and you can see the historic storefront of the iconic neighborhood deli and music venue incorporated into the new building. The deli’s original side wall was covered in graffiti but was destroyed during a severe storm.
* As of 1/2020 this mural is painted over in anticipation for another mural. Stay tuned.
Key Formal Elements:
Fat City Lofts developers used a unique process to choose the artists for their project. Knowing that they wanted to honor the graffiti art heritage, they designed a ballot with images of graffiti examples by local artists. Voting took place during a NoDa gallery crawl night when they distributed the ballots. Rather than pick just one artist however, the developers settled on all and paid for their painting expenses. The artists branded themselves as #bigtroublecollective.
Location: 453 E. 35th Street side wall of The Blind Pig
Artist: Rosalia Torres-Weiner, with David Merck
Date: 2014
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @redcalacastudio
Story: Artist and activist Rosalia Torres-Weiner is a native of Mexico. Commissioned by The Blind Pig, a popular NoDa bar, this mural juxtaposes episodes from NoDa history with images of its new emergence as an arts area.
** As of 3/20 this mural is painted over in anticipation for a new mural to be painted.
Key Formal Elements:
On the left side of the mural, Torres-Weiner draws upon Charlotte’s textile manufacturing history. In the early 20th century, North Charlotte became Charlotte’s largest mill village. Highland Park Manufacturing Company Plant No. 3, just down the road, housed 30,000 spindles and employed over 800 laborers. Torres-Weiner skillfully draws attention to the oppressive working conditions in the mill with the bent-over woman laborer surrounded and engulfed by white cotton spindles. Is the artist making a statement connecting mill history and the emergence of the New South skyline above it? Oh, and yep, it is another water tower.
Location: 3221 N. Davidson Street side wall of former Solstice Tavern
Artist: Jonay di Ragno
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @jonaydiragno
Story: This mural is part of a collaboration between three artists and Brand the Moth, a local non-profit creating community-based public art projects. Jonay di Ragno completed the mural on the far left of the side wall. Di Ragno describes himself as an Abstract Expressionist artist and was raised in both Spain and the Caribbean. Fibonacci refers to the Fibonacci Sequence, a mathematical series of numbers. The numbers are often expressed in nature and are seen to have divine or perfect meanings.
Key Formal Elements:
** This mural was removed as of August 2020 and a new mural was painted in its place.
Di Ragno uses the familiar form of the spiral. The spiral is one of the oldest known symbols in art and is often associated with suggestions of life, death, the rising and setting of the sun, and creation. Here the loose bands of the spiral draw you into the center to suggest an energy source and connect to the name of the former Solstice Tavern. This mural has its own Instagram @noda_charlotte_mural_fibonacci. Take your picture and post it!
Location: 3221 N. Davidson Street corner of former Solstice Tavern
Artist: Georgie Nakima
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @gardenofjourney
Story: This mural is part of a collaboration between three artists and Brand the Moth, a local non-profit creating community-based public art projects. Georgie Nakima completed the mural at the corner of the building. Nakima’s background in math and the sciences is often expressed in her work through the use of geometry, patterns and nature.
Key Formal Elements:
** This mural was removed as of August 2020 and a new mural was painted in its place.
Nakima has the toughest task of the three artists in this collaboration with the job of connecting the other two around the corner of the building. She connects to the side wall painting through the use of some circular patterns but opts for a strong and dominant goddess figure at the corner to balance the equally strong profile to the right of the door by Napoletano. What similarities can you find that connect or unify all three of these separate paintings?
Location: 3221 N. Davidson Street front wall of former Solstice Tavern
Artist: Nick Napoletano
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @napoletanoart
Story: This mural is part of a collaboration between three artists and Brand the Moth, a local non-profit creating community-based public art projects. Nick Napoletano completed the mural on the front facade facing N. Davidson Street. Classically trained and educated both in the United States and Italy, Napoletano works in Charlotte and other cities all over the country.
Key Formal Elements:
** This mural was removed as of August 2020 and a new mural was painted in its place.
This painting is an exploration of contrasts. The stability and anchor of the stationary portrait of the young woman is contrasted with the free-flowing movement of the bluish, purple ribbons. Perhaps that is a metaphor for the neighborhood. Look closely at the ribbons. Small, outlined symbols are scattered in the ribbons. Their designs came from a social media call put out by the artist. Napoletano’s interest in “Augmented Reality,” or AR is evolving and eventually these murals will move.
Location: 3306 N. Davidson Street side wall at Salud Beer Shop
Artist: Nick Garris
Date: 2013
Media: Acrylic paint
Story: In a second mural on the side wall of Salud Beer Shop, Artist Nick Garris celebrates this art-supporting business.
Key Formal Elements:
** This mural was removed in September 2020.
Two beer bottles with faces and arms tilt slightly outward to frame a sign for the beer shop. Their “hands” raise a toast to connect with the meaning of salud. Why might the “eye” of one of the beer bottles be falling out?
Location: Corner of N. Davidson and 36th Street
Artist: Poet Was Taken
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint and paste up
Artist Info: @poetwastaken
Story: Los Angeles-based street artist Poet Was Taken combines stencils, paste ups, and text to create a type of guerilla lovefare. All in the color PINK. NoDa just had a poetwastaken take over and three pieces were created in the central business area and one new mural was created at CanJam across the railroad tracks.
Key Formal Elements:
** As of 3/21, this artwork was removed.
The quote here comes from a popular line from the movie, “Mean Girls” and is illustrated with a paste up. The paste up technique allows a graffiti artist to put up a rather detailed design quickly using a piece of paper and wheat paste which is an adhesive made from wheat flour. It is a temporary installation and will disappear in some months depending on the weather and conditions.
Location: Yadkin and 35th Street
Artist: Poet Was Taken
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint and paste up
Artist Info: @poetwastaken
Story: Los Angeles-based street artist Poet Was Taken combines stencils, paste ups, and text to create a type of guerilla lovefare. All in the color PINK. NoDa just had a @poetwastaken take over and three pieces were created in the central business area and one new mural was created at CanJam across the railroad tracks.
Key Formal Elements:
** As of 3/21, this artwork was painted over.
Text in art is not a new thing. You can go back to the early twentieth century to see text in art by Picasso, in Dada and Surrealist art, and even more contemporary examples like Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger. So, yea, it’s a thing.
Each street art installation by this artist has some sort of text written as lines of love poetry. The text celebrates love or a message of love in some way. But there may be a hint of something else appearing in the language. Think it over.
Title: Evening Muse Mural
Location: 3227 N. Davidson Street
Artist: Stencil Spray, Jbird.the.vandal
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info:@stencilspray, @jbird.the.vandal
Story: Commissioned by the owner of Evening Muse, a live music venue, @jbird.the.vandal and @stencilspray painted this mural as an homage to music. @stencilspray is founding member of the Tough Ass Crew, an artist’s collective and @jbird,the.vandal is one of their artists. Step around the corner and pop into their gallery located at 3225 N. Davidson Street. You can see more of these two artist collaborations at CanJam CLT, one of the next stops on the artwalk.
Key Formal Elements:
** As of 8/21 this mural was removed.
The owner and the artists brainstormed about a mural of a musician from the Carolinas. Dizzy Gillespie, born in South Carolina, is pictured in one of his iconic poses. Pouched cheeks and bent instrument, Gillespie is known for his musical innovations, creation of Bebop music, and as a trumpet virtuoso. Enjoy the art of stenciling on this large wall!
Location: Directly behind the building located at N. Davidson Street and E. 35th Street and across from 510 Expert Tattoo
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2017
Media Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: Neighborhood arts leader, Paul Sires commissioned artist Osiris Rain to paint a mural on the private dumpster Sires installed behind the building he owned. Rain painted one of his trademark portraits in grey scale and covered one side with flowers. Recently, the mural got an addition from @poetwastaken. Check out the poetry of this Los Angeles based street artist!
Key Formal Elements:
Shortly after this piece was completed, it generated a good bit of controversy. Apparently, city zoning regulations require a fence or screening to hide a dumpster from public view. Articles in the paper and news segments debated whether the city should enforce this zoning regulation or issue a waiver and allow the mural to remain. Since it would take 2 years to get a hearing from the city, official are waiving the $50 per day penalty until a solution is found. Do you think the city should issue a waiver or enforce the rules? Why?
Location: 3204 N. Davidson Street Wall Poem
Artists: Wall Poems of Charlotte, Amy Bagwell, Graham Carew, The Mural Shop
Date: 2016
Media: Acrylic paint
Artists Info: @wallpoems, @emotiontapes, @grahamcarew, @mural shop
Story: Wall Poems of Charlotte is an effort to integrate poetry into urban areas of the city. The organization has completed over a dozen installations featuring the work of North Carolina poets. “Untitled” is a poem by William Harmon, a North Carolina native and retired professor of poetry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Key Formal Elements:
Read each line carefully. Are they all the same? Do the words you can see have any relationship to each other?
Canoe is an anagram of ocean. An anagram is a word formed by rearranging the letters of another word. Are there any other ways these two words are related?
Can you make a connection between this poem and Harmon’s service with the United States Navy in Vietnam?
Location: 3204 N. Davidson Street painting beside the Wall Poem
Artist: William Puckett
Date: 2012
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @mr_puckett
Story: William Puckett’s political painting celebrates Barack Obama’s 2012 candidacy for President of the United States.
Key Formal Elements:
The idea of appropriation is central to contemporary art works. Appropriation in art is the use of existing imagery in new works. Puckett draws upon some imagery in the iconic “Hope” Obama poster design by Shepard Fairy, which was also created in 2012. Perhaps Puckett also makes a connection to Faith Ringgold, a prominent African-American artist and her work done during the Civil Rights Era. Do you feel that art loses any of its originality if artists borrow from historical sources?
Title: Stay Safe
Location: 1200 N. Davidson Street
Artist: Cheeks
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @cheeks.clt
Story: COVID art. During the height of quarantine in 2020, artist Cheeks reached out to the business owners here at Blue Pelican for permission to paint this wall. Located on a visible wall right on N. Davidson Street as you head into NoDa, it seemed like a perfect spot for a pandemic reminder. Cheeks is a young, talented tagger and mural artist and this is his first mural. He is most known for this hugging fish tags along greenways and under bridges and was a 2020 Talking Walls artist.
Key Formal Elements:
During those bleak initial days of quarantine, this mural by Cheeks spread positive messaging by encouraging us all to “Stay Safe.” The repeated instructions reminding us to wash our hands, wear and mask, and stay six feet apart will forever mark our 2020. Did you have a special saying or mantra to get you or your family through that stressful year? While COVID in its inspiration, “Stay Safe” is a good reminder to keep!
Title: Out of Place
Location: 1200 N. Davidson Street
Artist: Cheeks and Naji Alali
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @cheeks.clt, @najiarts
Story: “Stay Safe” was the original mural on this wall and it was done during COVID quarantine. You can see it in our Archives 2 section. During the summer of 2021, artists Cheeks and Naji did a quick buff and repainted the wall. Cheeks is a well-established tagger and mural artist with his most prominent wall completed for 2020 Talking Walls. Naji Alali is a Palestinian artist who now calls Charlotte home and his murals are located in South End and in midtown for Talking Walls 2021.
Key Formal Elements:
Cheeks and Naji completed a mural to advertise an exhibition at Goodyear Arts at Camp North End. The exhibition, “Out of Place,” was held from August 27 to September 17. They cool thing is that they crowd-funded their mural by asking for donations over Instagram and within half an hour had funds to buy paint.
Look for the signature Cheeks element of the hugging fish and the signature “Lemonback” design from Naji.
Title: “Static”
Location: 3204 N. Davidson Street
Artist: Abel Jackson with Big Trouble Studios
Date: 2021
Media: Spray paint
Artist info: @artbyabel, @bigtroublestudios
Story: This mural was produced as part of the Milestone Initiative. In a partnership with Ally Bank, DC Comics and Milestone Media, this collaborative effort highlights and elevates the voices of diverse artists of color. Artist Abel Jackson with Big Trouble Studios created “Static” here in the NoDa neighborhood and artist Georgie Nakima painted a corresponding mural for this initiative on Beatties Ford Road.
Key Formal Elements:
Developed in 1993, Milestone Comics features Black Super Heroes created by Black artists. The current revival of this program seeks to continue this work and ensure that representation matters for all. In this mural, the superhero “Static” uses his electromagnetic powers to serve his community. Jackson is known for his realistic portraits so notice all the highlights and creation of texture in the figure.
Also can you find the NoDa water tower?
Title: "Bloom"
Location: 3200 N. Davidson Street side wall
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: “Bloom” is a 46-foot by 10-foot mural by artist Osiris Rain with assistance from Nick Napoletano. Originally the mural included a branding logo for Stella Artois, but the current rendition reflects changes. A signature component of many of Rain’s murals are his grey-scale human faces.
Key Formal Elements:
Iconography of the lotus flower is shared by many ancient religions. As the focal point of this image, the lotus flower has potential symbolic meanings. How may the lotus flower be symbolic of rebirth in this location? Also, can you locate the crowns, which symbolize of the city of Charlotte? And can you see the letters Charlotte spelled out in the mural?
Title: "Kiss Me"
Location: E. 36th Street
Artist: Stencil Spray
Date: 2022
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info:
Story: And then it showed up. Artist Stencil Spray is one of the funnest follows on Instagram and is very active in our local arts community. One day this just showed up and we are very glad it was the perfect timing for the Lovers Art Trail. What's your opinion of a perfect selfie wall for the gram?
Key Formal Elements:
Kiss Me.
Location: N. Davidson Street at former TAC Gallery
Artist: Poet Was Taken
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @poetwastaken
Story: Los Angeles-based street artist Poet Was Taken combines stencils, paste ups, and text to create a type of guerilla lovefare. All in the color PINK. NoDa had a @poetwastaken take over in 2020 and three pieces were created in the central business area and one new mural was created at CanJam across the railroad tracks.
Key Formal Elements:
This installation by the artist uses the front façade of the former TAC Gallery even incorporating the small floral rosette medallions in the text. Each street art installation by this artist has some sort of text written as love poetry. The text celebrates love or a message of love in some way.
Title: "What a Long Strange Trip it’s Been"
Location: 3001 Central Avenue
Artist: Melissa Wineman
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @owlymo
Story: Local artist Melissa “Mo” Wineman loves to create animals, flowers, fairy lands, anything magical, and her signature “creature wildflowers.” She exhibits widely in the Charlotte area and is known for her positive personality. Local restaurant Good Wurst opened in 2020 and commissioned this mural a year later.
Key Formal Elements:
Brats and Bears! The owners of the Good Wurst are fans of the Grateful Dead and these are the iconic Grateful Dead Bears. The Dancing Bears were designed by artist Bob Thomas for the back of the album cover for The History of the Grateful Dead, Volume 1 (Bear’s Choice). Named after their long-time sound engineer, the Dancing Bears have become an iconic symbol of the band and the culture of that time period. In case you are counting or know, this is the second Grateful Dead inspired mural in Charlotte. The other one is on Monroe Road at Cosmic Tattoo.