Start at Thomas Avenue Seating Plaza
Location: At the intersection of Thomas Avenue and Central Avenue
Artist: Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires
Date:
Media: Mosaic tile and terracotta
Artists Info: @ruthavalyonsart, www.jpaulsires.com
Story: Thank goodness for good memories! Information was hard to find on this older project (since it was before social media…) but artists Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons remembered a lot about the project they completed some years ago. The sculptures and seating area were commissioned by the Plaza Midwood Development Partners and the City of Charlotte. For the house, glass tesserae are set on a hand cast concrete and steel structure. The granite for the benches came from a NC quarry. And the terracotta capital sculpture has hand carved symbols.
Key Formal Elements:
- Installation
- Texture
Make the Connection:
So many symbols. The tree on the house connects to the pride of Plaza Midwood residents in their beautiful tree canopy. The hand “represents the power to hold positivity and creativity as a beacon that welcomes diversity” and you will find mill symbols on the capital sculpture. There’s also a time capsule filled with material from residents! What three items would you put in a time capsule today?
Look at side wall of Coultrane's
Location: 1516 Central Avenue wall of the Coultrane’s Char Grill
Artists: Matt Hooker, Matt Moore
Date: 2017
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hookermedia, @puckmcgruff
Story: Matt Hooker and Matt Moore are icons of the Charlotte mural world. Here, the artists celebrate the diversity and eclectic quality of the Plaza Midwood neighborhood with themes of fantasy, children, magic, and animals.
Key Formal Elements:
- Variety rules in this post-modern collage
- Polychromatic color scheme
Make the Connection:
Can you make out the letters on the left of the mural and figure out what they spell? What is one object in the mural that relates to the theme of families and children? How is the idea of creativity or transformation expressed by the artists in the mural?
There are many connections to the neighborhood...find the beaver, Hope Nichols, the train, a billiard...if you don't know about them, ask a local.
Peek around corner into the parking lot
Location: 1510 Central Avenue back wall in the parking lot at corner of Central Avenue and Thomas Avenue
Artists: Matt Hooker, Matt Moore, Nick Napoletano
Date: 2016
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hookermedia, @puckmcgruff, @napoletanoart
Story: Large wall mural features a portrait of Brandy Alexander, a celebrated North Carolina drag queen, and uses her image to create awareness around the 2016 HB2 conflict and discrimination against the LGBT community.
Key Formal Elements:
- Modeling or shading makes the face look three-dimensional
- Floating necklace creates a sense of implied motion in contrast to her intense stare and solid stance
Make the Connection:
The use of iconography or symbols in this artwork is important. Who is Pat McCrory and what was his role in Charlotte? Why is his portrait delicately included in the cameo earrings? How does the gender-neutral charm at the end of the pearl necklace relate to the HB2 issue? What may be the significance of the breaking shackles?
Continue down alley beside Snug Harbor
Location: 1228 Gordon Street on the side wall of Snug Harbor
Artist: Scott Nurkin
Date: 2014
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @themuralshop
Story: This large wall mural draws upon the timeless story of the Sirens in the Odyssey. A sailor is tied to the mast of his ship so that he cannot follow the call of the Sirens in the ancient Greek poem.
Key Formal Elements:
- Large wooden boat is focal point for the image
- Visual texture in the mountain, sky, and sides of the boat
Make the Connection:
Snug Harbor can sometimes refer to a safe or comfortable place. How does the story of the sailor resisting the charms of the Sirens refer to this business’s sense of place?
On the Left
Location: Gordon Street at Pecan
Artists: Scott Nurkin, Leandro Manzo, Georgie Nakima, Kat Sanchez-Standfield, Cheeks, Renee Cloud, De-Angelo Dia
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artists Info: Various
Story: Check out this cool alley. Stop here at the Gordon Street Murals project in the alley between Snug Harbor and the paint store. Different artists painted each section of the wall. This project was funded with CARES act funding and seeks to activate unused spaces and support our local artists.
Key Formal Elements:
- Scale of the Cheeks and Fiberess mural
- Warm colors of the Cheeks and Fiberess mural
Learn More
Art as placemaking tool. On the other side of this group mural is one of the original murals in Plaza Midwood. This alley, which has been trash strewn at times and overlooked, now becomes a public space connecting Gordon Street and Thomas Avenue.
On back of building along Pecan look up
Location: 1500 Central Avenue side wall and back wall on the electrical boxes
Artists: Wall Poems of Charlotte, Graham Carew, The Mural Shop
Date: 2016
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @wallpoems, @muralshop, @grahamcarew
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. “Love Comes Quietly” is a poem by Robert Creeley, an influential American poet associated with the Black Mountain Poets.
Key Formal Elements:
- Notice the asymmetrical balance of the text and the mural
Make the Connection:
Creeley was known for the emotions in his poetry. What emotions do you feel when you read his poem and see the art that accompanies it? How does the emotional quality of his work fit into the artwork’s surroundings? Also don’t forget to walk around the building to the Central Avenue side and look up to see the other part of the work.
Continue walking along Pecan Avenue
Location: 1801 Commonwealth Avenue
Artist: Ashley Graham
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @grahamarts
Story: Playful, fun monkeys and luscious fruit flow around two sides of the Smooth Monkey smoothie shop. Ashley Graham is a local art instructor and has murals in several other locations around the city.
Key Formal Elements:
- Highlights present on the fruit
- Warm colors of the bananas and the oranges contrasts with the cool colors of the blueberries and raspberries
Make the Connection:
Notice how the monkeys are rendered in a greyscale, or the use of only black and white. Think about how that choice by the artist impacts how you encounter the other parts of the composition.
Cross Commonwealth, Walk to Okra Yoga
Location: 1912 Commonwealth Avenue, side wall of Okra Charlotte yoga studio.
Artists:
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @dr.rickamortis, @you_are_jah
Story: The artists created a mural with the quote, “Before I die, I will live” on one side and a meditating seated figure on the other.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance of the seated figure in the circle
- Line – traditional use of outline in wild-style letters along the side
Make the Connection:
The meditative figure is cleverly arranged around a pipe on the exterior on the building. The locations of the seven chakras of the body are depicted vertically down the pipe. Chakras are various points in the body used in ancient meditation practices. What other imagery connects this piece to the yoga studio and wellness center?
Cross Commonwealth at Thomas, continue on Commonwealth
Location: 2007 Commonwealth Avenue
Artist: Mike Wirth
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artists Info: @mikewirth, with @the_wizard_jeffries
Story: After the unexpected death of much-loved patron Jon-O, the Common Market asked artist Mike Wirth to paint a mural as a way to honor his memory and offer healing to his friends and community. Wirth reached out to a friend of Jon-Os and with the help of James, many who knew Jon-O were able to help with the mural.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
- Grey scale of the figure
Make the Connection:
The life of Jon-O is celebrated in this full spectrum of color mural. From left to right, the colors create a rainbow of love. Unique aspects of the life of Jon-O from playing chess and cards to some of his frequent sayings floating in the paisley shapes, allow friends and family to remember his exuberant life.
Continue down CM Alley
Title: Common Market Alley Murals
Location: 2007 Commonwealth Ave
Artists: Charlotte Street Art Collab
Date: 2022
Media: Spray paint
Artists Info: @cltartsfx.machina
Story: CLT Street Art Collab is a local non-profit seeking to encourage and assist current and next gen artists to make a living as an artist. Various artists from the CLT Street Art Collab painted individual pieces on the alley wall and the back wall during a neighborhood arts festival. Make sure you walk the length of the wall to see all the various styles and the butterfly at the back entrance.
Key Formal Elements:
- Variety of all the bottles lining the wall
- Heavy use of outline
Make the Connection:
Common Market opened over 20 years ago and is now a mainstay in the PM neighborhood. It started as a “bottle shop.” So what better way to celebrate that than the parade of different bottles down the wall.
Left on Commonwealth, left on The Plaza
Location: 1201 The Plaza
Artist: Christine Dryden
Date: 2019
Media: Printed vinyl
Artist Info: @christinedryden.art
Story: Through a Placemaking Grant from the City of Charlotte, the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association sponsored eight artists to cover traffic signal boxes in the neighborhood. Like the Amplify Charlotte project by Laurie Smithwick in South End, the signal wrap project takes utilitarian boxes and turns them into art. Beauty meets function!
Key Formal Elements:
- Polychromatic colors
- Abstract
Make the Connection:
Artist Christine Dryden uses a project with her students at Chantilly Montessori School as inspiration for her art. The collage project created images of Charlotte landmarks in the style of Eric Carle, the illustrator of the famous children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Can you find a favorite place for pizza in the neighborhood, Fuel Pizza?
Look to your left
Location: 1217 The Plaza
Artist: Darion Fleming
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info:@daflemingo
Story: Giddy Goat Coffee Roasters couldn’t really have a fish mural on the outside of their new coffee business. So, they commissioned the artist who completed the former mural on this wall to create a new one. And boy are we glad. Artist Darion Fleming covers this massive wall with colorful, decorative coffee plant imagery but what really steals the show is the grey-scale close up of the hands holding the cup of coffee.
Key Formal Elements:
- Visual texture of the skin, wrinkles, hair on the hands
- Strong use of outline
Make the Connection:
How well do you know coffee?
According to legend, coffee plants were discovered by a herder who noticed his goats became more active after they ate the plants.
The US imports more coffee than any other nation.
The coffee bean is not really a bean. It is a seed. It comes from the Arabica or Robusta plant and its fruit, as you see in the mural, is rounded and red in color.
Over 400 million cups of coffee are consumed each day in the US.
Walk to light, cross to the Harris Teeter
Location: 1704 Central Avenue
Artist: Tom Thoune
Date: 2013
Media: Mosaic tile
Artist Info: @tom_thoune
Story: This was the site of the original grocery store opened by W.T. Harris in 1936. This store was the first full-service supermarket, first air-conditioned store, and the first to stay open until 9 pm on a Friday. So many innovations! Harris merged with Teeter Food Market in 1960 to form Harris Teeter. Industrial art deco building design is featured as a connection to existing art deco buildings along the Central Avenue corridor.
Key Formal Elements:
- Texture
Make the Connection:
Artist Tom Thoune gathered pottery pieces from community members to make his mosaic medallions along the sides of the building. Each of the seven medallions references a different part of the grocery store. Make sure you see the bike racks designed by Shaun Cassidy for a nice art deco touch!
Walk toward uptown on Central Avenue
Location: 1600 Central Ave on front wall of Pizza Peel
Artist: Darion Fleming
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @daflemingo
Story: This mural is a part of the 2018 Talking Walls Festival, a week-long celebration of murals and street arts. During Talking Walls, 17 artists live-painted murals across the city. Local business sponsors supported the effort and the artists with walls to paint.
Key Formal Elements:
- Outline and contour lines in the skeleton
- Limited palette – warm colors and the use of black and white
Make the Connection:
Darion Fleming is a young, talented artist who got his first start designing cans of beer for local breweries. He quickly moved to a much larger scale designing walls for Catawba Brewery and Divine Barrel. Here he shows the viewer the body of the snake but allows his snake to escape out of the frame of his mural. Does this heighten the awareness of this slithering snake or merely seem like a design decision? Or both?
Check out other side of Pizza Peel
Location: 1600 Central Avenue
Artist: Niki Zarrabi
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @nikizarrabi
Story: Atlanta-based Niki Zarrabi painted this mural for Talking Walls 2019. Zarrabi, an Iranian-American mixed-media artist, works in both a smaller studio scale and very large outdoor mural projects.
Key Formal Elements:
- Green and reddish-pink hues work as complements
- Organic shapes
Make the Connection:
Zarrabi explores a type of vanitas or imagery that suggests the fragile and fleeting quality of life. She is also interested in portraying power in typically feminine images. What details of the mural suggest the idea of the transience of life? How does the artist use feminine subject matter to suggest power?
Walk to alley beside Thomas St Tavern
Title: Rocky & Bullwinkle Mural
Location: 1214 Thomas Avenue
Artists: Joey Obsoe, Rebus, This
Date: 2013
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info: @joeyobso
Story: Wow! Look at that date. So many original murals from back in the day. This mural tells two stories. One of gentrification and one of nostaglia. The unique clothing store Boris & Natasha commissioned this mural on the side of their former shop. Once a stalwart of funky, weird, and uncommon, the shop was a main creative force in Plaza Midwood. In 2021, they moved their shop further out to The Plaza due to rising rents.
Key Formal Elements:
- Outline, outline, outline in the characters and letters
- Variety as organizing principle
Make the Connection:
With a connection to the name of the original shop, artist Joey Obsoe created a mural based on the 1960s Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The show features Rocky the flying squirrel (find him in the mural) and Bullwinkle the Moose. Rocky and Bullwinkle are forever being chased by Russian spies Boris & Natasha. The main characters pop up in the mural amidst graffiti lettering in a celebration of street art.
Cross Central, Cross Thomas and look on street
Location: 1301 Thomas Avenue
Artist: Dakotah Aiyanna
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @dakotahaiyanna
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 are installing street murals that capture the impact of COVID – 19 and the resiliency and sustainability of our city.
Key Formal Elements:
- Focal point of the pink flower
- Cool colors of the blues and greens mix with the warm reds
Make the Connection:
For multidisciplinary artist Aiyanna, COVID was a time for introspection and more time for connecting with nature. In this street mural, she borrows a version of the iconic “You can do it” imagery but replaces a head for a flower. Perhaps her message is that if we remove our ego and become closer to nature our strength will grow.
Continue on Central
Title: LA Vapors Mural
Location: 1521 Central Avenue
Artist: 1.4.4.0
Date: 2022
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info: @1.4.4.0
Story: 1440 is a nationally known, Los Angeles based artist that occasionally pops up in the SouthEast doing some murals. His other Charlotte mural is located at Can Jam in NoDa. 1440 works a lot of the major mural festivals and his style is quite diverse but his portraits done in realistic detail often steal the show. 1440 is a reference to the number of minutes in a day and to remember not to waste a single one.
Key Formal Elements:
- Cool colors of the table and background with warm color accents
- Highlights on each of the faces
Make the Connection:
Two things here. First, think about how hard it was for the artist to incorporate the gutter downspouts and windows of the existing wall in the mural and make it look seamless. Second, how fun would it be to play poker at this table!