Start at the corner of N. Davidson & 35th Street
Title: "Bloom"
Location: 3200 N. Davidson Street side wall
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2017/2022
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: A tale of two “Blooms.” So, a long time ago in the Historic Arts District of NoDa, Osiris Rain painted a mural. Really it was 2017. But it was an icon for the neighborhood with a bright yellow and orange composition with signature black and white scale Osiris Rain portraits and a central lotus blossom. In 2022, a painting contractor mistakenly painting over the mural. Community members were outraged but thankfully Rain was commissioned by paint a NEW mural.
Key Formal Elements:
- Focal point of the pink lotus blossom
- Symmetrical balance with the two portraits on each end
Make the Connection:
In the updated version of “Bloom,” Rain keeps the central focus on the lotus flower. Symbolic of rebirth, the lotus flower now has several potential meanings in the mural. Note the inclusion of the lotus bud to the left and the lotus seed pod on the right. Also, while the former mural spelled out CHARLOTTE in the background, can you find the new words in the background?
Look at the corner for the trash receptacle
Location: At the corner of 35th Street and N. Davidson Street
Artist: Grace Stott
Date: 2020
Media: Ceramics
Artist Info: @gracestottt
Story: NoDaRioty, the arts committee for the Historic North Charlotte Neighborhood Association, partnered with the City of Charlotte and the Neighborhood Matching Grants Program to commission artists to design existing trash receptacles. A call to artists was sent out and eight artists were chosen to produce their designs. Ceramic artist Grace Stott has a mosaic mural on our South End Tremont ArtWalk.
Key Formal Elements:
- Free-standing sculptures
- Texture
Make the Connection:
Eight artists and eight different designs.
Artist Grace Stott places ceramic faces on three sides of the receptacle and adds lots of colorful neighborhood connections on the fourth side. Be on the lookout and see if you can find all eight in the business district.
Also consider doing the Trash Receptacle ArtWalk to learn about all 8 commissions and some facts on art and trash.
Look down at the pavement
Location: 3204 N. Davidson Street Center of the Earth medallion and benches in 3200 block
Artists: Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires
Date: 1980s
Media: Mosaic tile embedded in concrete
Artist Info: @ruthavalyonsart, www.jpaulsires.com
Story: Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires are artist legends in Charlotte. The artists found studio space in the NoDa area in the early 1980s, invested in properties, and started the artistic renaissance of the area. Their gallery was called Center of the Earth Gallery and located in this shopfront.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
Make the Connection:
The artists also completed the mosaics on the benches in front of the shopfront. Both artists use a great deal of natural forms in their work. Lyons works mostly in two-dimensional mixed media paintings. Sires works as a sculptor mostly in marble and granite.
Look down at the street
Location: Loading zone in the 3200 block of N. Davidson Street
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: This project was a partnership between the Charlotte Department of Transportation and Sustain Charlotte for the OpenStreets704 biking celebration in Spring 2018. CDOT removed the parking lanes to create a loading zone and to ease congestion in front of the fire department.
Key Formal Elements:
- Repetition of patterns
- Warm, secondary color of orange forms the main area of the flower
Make the Connection:
During the OpenStreets704 festival, the artist provided stencils so that members of the community were able to contribute to painting the flowers and be a part of this community art project.
Continue on N. Davidson
Title: "Chanson of Papillon"
Location: 3220 N. Davidson Street
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2021
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: Osiris Rain continues to thrill the viewer with his experimentation and almost improvisational riffs on color and the figure. Rain is a classically trained artist and fluent with realistic figures in the traditional medium of oil, but it is stunning to see how he manipulates the geometric prism shapes, a butterfly, hands and faces into this mural on the side of Billy Jack’s Shack.
Key Formal Elements:
- Strong contrast of warm and cool colors
- Symmetrical and almost a radial balance
Make the Connection:
While the butterfly wings shape anchors the composition, colorful violas and pansies are the flower of choice for the artist. Hidden in the colors are two faces and hands. Can you find them? Then think about how the artist’s use of the portraits has evolved from the “Bloom” mural.
Look at corner of N. Davidson & 36th Street
Location: Corner of N. Davidson & 36th Street
Artists: Jason Lee Parker
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @tinker_bird_
Story: NoDaRioty, the arts committee for the Historic North Charlotte Neighborhood Association, partnered with the City of Charlotte and the Neighborhood Matching Grants Program to commission artists to design existing trash receptacles. A call to artists was sent out and eight artists were chosen to produce their designs.
Key Formal Elements:
- Cool colors of the background
- Contour lines on the hands
Make the Connection:
Eight artists and eight different designs.
Tinker Bird placed the letters N-O-D-A in both English and American Sign Language on his trash receptacle. Self-described tinkerer, artist, and carpenter, he draws his influences from street art, skate culture and his time in a band. His message is meant to “celebrate diversity and inclusiveness.”
Turn right and walk to Smelly Cat
Location: 514 E. 36th Street sculpture out front of Smelly Cat Coffee
Artist: Theron Ross
Date: 2011
Media: Metal
Artist Info: @theronross
Story: Playful sculpture in front of Smelly Cat Coffee House draws attention to the business and it is a bike rack that acts as a functional element of the streetscape. This project was a collaboration between NoDaRioty, the arts committee of the Historic North Charlotte Neighborhood Association and the Neighborhood Energy Challenge Grant. “Pimp my Rack” allowed Ross, a metal-worker and blacksmith, an opportunity to create six artistic bicycle rack designs. Five are still located in the neighborhood.
Key Formal Elements:
- Three-dimensional, free-standing sculpture
- Clever use of negative space
Make the Connection:
The sculpture was recently yarn bombed by fiber artist Jessica Allen @desertroseknittco. Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that uses colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber arts. Be on the lookout for other items that have been yarn bombed in NoDa.
At the Corner of Yadkin and 36th
Location: Corner of Yadkin & 36th Street
Artist: Pam Imhof
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @theleftbrainedartist
Story: NoDaRioty, the arts committee for the Historic North Charlotte Neighborhood Association, partnered with the City of Charlotte and the Neighborhood Matching Grants Program to commission artists to design existing trash receptacles. A call to artists was sent out and eight artists were chosen to produce their designs.
Key Formal Elements:
- Actual texture
- Functional art
Make the Connection:
Eight artists and eight different designs.
Four sides of playful animals such as a salamander, a penguin, a giraffe, and a racoon entertain the viewer. Right before this project, Imhof painted a crosswalk in Plaza-Midwood and hopes to do more public art in Charlotte. Imhof is a local art instructor, muralist, and fiber artist.
Walk half block to Company Store
Location: 3221 Yadkin Avenue walls of the NODA Company Store
Artists: Matt Hooker, Matt Moore
Date: 2016
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hookermedia, @puckmcgruff
Story: Artists Matt Hooker and Matt Moore researched the history of the North Davidson Street area for inspiration. NoDa has transitioned from rolling farmland during the American Revolution, to a major textile center during the 20th century, to one of Charlotte’s art and entertainment centers today.
Key Formal Elements:
- Entire mural rendered in grey-scale tones
- Variety created through the contrast of light and dark
Make the Connection:
The history of NoDa plays a starring role in these murals. Starting on the front wall, the artists draw connections to farming, and include a portrait of American Revolution leader General William Lee Davidson. Around the corner, can you locate the reference to the Highland Manufacturing Co. Mill No. 3 which opened in 1903. The mill produced mostly gingham fabric. Can you find where the artists included gingham? There are also humorous references to the criminal element that oral histories tell us existed in NoDa over the course of its history.
Peek down alley
Location: End of alley along side wall of NoDa Company Store
Artist: Osiris Rain
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @osirisrain
Story: This piece of art transforms a concrete block wall that houses garbage behind this business.
Key Formal Elements:
- Highlights located on the eyelids, forehead, and chin
- Geometric patterns create contrast with organic lines of figure
Make the Connection:
The owner of this business turned a potentially unattractive garbage collection area into an opportunity to showcase art. On your walk, see if you can imagine other spaces that could benefit from an artistic intervention.
Walk to corner of 35th and Yadkin
Location: Corner of 35th Street and Yadkin
Artist: Luvly Moon
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info:@luvlymoon
Story: Local artist Luvly Moon knew she wanted to be a professional artist at the age of 16. Influences for her art include street art, healing energy, and the desire to create uplifting messages. A member of the Tough Ass Crew artist collective and a META Artist Residency program participant, her art is colorful and fun.
Key Formal Elements:
- Use of outline on all four sides
- Lots of cool colors but some warm colors on the sides with the yellow stars and pink background.
Make the Connection:
Eight artists and eight different designs.
Connections to Charlotte are included by the artist in the colors of teal and purple and if you look closely, the cute characters are wearing crowns. The artist calls these figures “space beans” and they are characters that travel the cosmos looking for the answers to life’s questions and inspiration. Sounds like all of us.
Look at the street
Location: 516 E. 35thStreet
Artist: Ruth Ava Lyons
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @ruthavalyonsart
Story: The City of Charlotte loves murals. Their Urban Design Center and the Office of Sustainability are supporting local artists and filling Charlotte’s streets with murals. Artists from the City’s Placemaking Artist Pool installed street murals that capture the impact of COVID – 19 and the resiliency and sustainability of our city.
Key Formal Elements:
- Asymmetrical balance
- Focal point of the black dandelion
Make the Connection:
According to Lyons, “the dandelion symbolizes our ability and determination to proliferate in the most difficult circumstances and places.” As an artist, Lyons draws much of her inspiration from nature and in this case from a lowly weed. A weed that never gives up, shows up in all the wrong places, demands attention and then becomes an ethereal seed to grow somewhere else. A beautiful lesson for our times.
Look at side wall of 510 Expert Tattoos
Location: 510 E. 35th Street wall at 510 Expert Tattoos
Artist: Tom Michael
Date:
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @uglytom
Story: Large eagle with fully spread wings covers half of a side wall of the tattoo studio. Blue and white fluffy clouds fill in the rest of the areas.
Key Formal Elements:
- Implied motion of the bird in flight
- Asymmetrical balance with the focal point behind the eagle at the point where the red sunbursts begin
Make the Connection:
The eagle can be symbolic of many things in art. Going back to the founding of the United States, the eagle can be a symbol of power, courage, independence, and freedom. How does the choice of subject matter for this mural relate to the business?
"Worth the Walk" One Block to left on N. Davidson
Title: Oh My Soul mural
Location: 3046 N. Davidson Street
Artists: Sydney Duarte, Ann Duarte, Duarte Designs
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artists Info: @traveling_gypsy, @duarte_designs
Story: Oh My Soul is NoDa’s first vegan restaurant and art is featured on the sidewalks and almost every wall around the building. Mother and daughter artist team, Duarte Designs, completed a wall mural along the side of the building and another mural inside the courtyard which you can peek at from the street. Duarte Designs has murals on our Plaza Midwood and Mad About Murals artwalks.
Key Formal Elements:
- Black and white value scale used on the animals
- Visual texture of the coats of each animal
Make the Connection
Veganism seeks to promote a way of life and living philosophy that excludes all forms of cruelty or exploitation to animals. So, celebrate the chicken, the lamb, the pig and the cow rendered in the same scale as the solid human profile. Duarte Designs always brings the viewer those messages of positivity and reflection!