From the station, left on Rail Trail to 8th, then turn left
Title: "Equity"
Location: 618 N. College Street other side of building
Artist: Nick Napoletano
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @napoletanoart
Story: In this super-scaled mural, Napoletano features a female mural painter carrying her can of paint and a roller. She overlaps blue and pink painted dots arranged in a pattern similar to the Ishihara Color Blindness eye test. In the far-right corner, a man in a gray suit uses grey paint to cover up the mural. The site of this mural is important. In this area of town, many homeless congregate on the sidewalks and the parking lots. While he was painting, Napoletano spent time listening to them tell their stories.
Key Formal Elements:
- Scale
- Symmetrical balance
Make the Connection:
Napoletano’s mural is dripping with symbolism and message. As an avid supporter of women’s empowerment, the artist gives us a larger-than-life size woman artist as the heroine of this mural. How does seeing the woman artist impact your understanding of the word “Equity” written in the color-blind test dots? What do you think of the actions of the gray-suited man in the bottom right?
Continue on 8th, turn right on N. College
Location: 618 N. College Street
Artist: Gleo
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @gleo
Story: Street artist Gleo comes from Cali, Colombia and works internationally. She completed this mural for Talking Walls 2019. As an artist Gleo is interested in issues of identity, women, and exploring global social issues.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
- Warm colors of red, orange, and pink
Make the Connection:
Identity. Where do we come from? How do we fit in? The artist fills her composition with sensuous, large flowers that surround the main focal point of the mural, the divided face. How does the divided face connect to the issue of identity?
Continue on N. College, to 11th Street, turn left
Location: 100 E. 11th Street
Artist: Matt Hooker and Matt Moore
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hookermedia and @puckmcgruff
Story: As legendary figures in Charlotte’s mural arts scene, Matt Hooker and Matt Moore have important murals all over the city but this is their first mural for TalkingWalls. Their work is featured in our Mad About Murals artwalks, and our artwalks in Plaza Midwood, NoDa, South End and Uptown. Stylistically, their work does not easily fit into one brand as you can sometimes say about other mural artists. Their work is highly adaptable to site, their personalities, and message.
Key Formal Elements:
- Scale. Just consider scale for a moment
- Complements of yellow and purple create drama
Make the Connection:
So much is going on here. Based on a photograph of @alifeofclarity by @angelica.lobiondo, this portrait done in a black and white value scale celebrates strong women. The insertion of wolf eyes gives the portrait a fierce edge. Read the accompanying text on the mural and think about the message.
Look to the right
Title: "Ego"
Location: 100 E. 11th Street
Artist: Ledania
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @ledania
Story: Internationally known mural artist Ledania is from Bogota, Colombia. She completed this mural for Talking Walls 2019. Her main themes of positivity, happiness, equality, love and self-expression are executed through vibrant colors and shapes.
Key Formal Elements:
- Polychromatic colors inside the letters
- Implied motion
Make the Connection:
Ledania gives you a self-help mural. Largely based on her own personal experience in Charlotte waiting on a wall to paint, she felt her ego getting in the way. What is pulling you down with your EGO? What can you do to cut those strings that prevent you from letting go of your EGO? As your self-help muralist, the artist wants you to let go of your ego and feel freedom. Have a good day!
** Removed at VAPA Center
Location: 700 N. Tryon Street
Artist: Sebastian Coolidge
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @sebastiancoolidge
Story: Sebastian Coolidge is a Florida-based artist who completed this mural for Talking Walls 2018. A large flower set horizontally in six different painted panels stretches across the façade of the former Hal Marshall County Services Building.
Key Formal Elements:
- Limited color palette
- Focal point is the face of the flower
Make the Connection:
Perhaps it is nice to contemplate a flower. A lot of art features flowers. This flower sports a little mix of surrealism and fantasy as the flower has a face. How would you paint a flower?
Also check out the AR with this mural. Search Instagram stories for the artist's name and try the Dazey filter designed by @cheeks.clt and @suarezart. With your phone in selfie mode see the mural element come to life with you. Definitely Insta-worthy!
Follow N. Tryon to W. 7th St, turn right on W. 7th
Location: 301 N. Tryon Street side wall down 7thStreet at Discovery Place
Artist: Alex DeLarge
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @alexdelarge
Story: Alex DeLarge is a local artist in the Charlotte mural scene. He was one of the original founders of the Talking Walls Mural Festival in 2018 and a founder of the Southern Tiger Collective, a cooperative group of local artists supporting the street art scene. DeLarge wants Charlotte to become a destination for mural art and a celebration of public art.
Key Formal Elements:
- Warm colors in sunset and fire
- Implied motion
Make the connection:
Remember Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown? Back to the Future came out in 1985 with its DeLorean Time Machine allowing for travel back in time. The fiery tire tracks and electrical currents that surround the car signify its landing at another time. The artist made one change from the original however. Here the license plate reads “704.” Do you know what the original license plate said? Also, how is this mural connected to its location?
Follow N. Tryon, across Trade, to 203 S. Tryon
Location: 203 S. Tryon Street
Artist: McMonster
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @mc_monster
Story: Portland-based artist, McMonster, created this hidden gem for Talking Walls 2018 and it is all things J.R.R. Tolkien. The artist is inspired by Tolkien, nature, science fiction, fantasy, and dreamscapes. His subject matter in this mural, a person in a small boat holding a white balloon with a mountainous landscape behind, speaks to all of those interests.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
- Outline of the balloon shape and contour lines in the water
Make the Connection:
What does it mean when something is curated? According to Miriam-Webster, curated means “carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized or presented.” This mural was curated by Talking Walls and we see how a curator can impact your experience of viewing a work of art. If you even walked down this alley, you may have felt a little uneasy. Where were you going? How far is it? What’s at the end? Maybe you experienced a little delight upon spying this work of art knowing, others may have passed it by. As you walk toward the mural and the noise of the city lessens, you are face to face with this work which only leaves you with questions.
Walk back to Trade, Turn right, walk 4 blocks
Location: 408 E. Trade Street
Artist: Hoxxoh
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hoxxoh
Story: Miami-based artist, Hoxxoh, is interested in exploring time and the energy of time in his work.
Key Formal Elements:
- Saturated cool color blue dominates the far right
- Pattern and repetition are important
Make the Connection:
Color, pattern, and repetition mix together to create the effect of a tunnel, or a time travel tunnel. Even the gear-shaped edges of each layer suggest the precision of time. Do you feel trapped by this tunnel and its intense structure or do you feel movement and escape?
Walk back to Trade St, Right on N. Tryon, Walk 2 blocks
Location: N. Tryon Street between Duckworth’s and the library
Artist: Dammit Wesley
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @dammit_wesley
Story: The artist Dammit Wesley is a community leader, social and political activist, and outspoken supporter of creatives of color. His art sheds lights on the Black experience through the lens of popular culture.
Key Formal Elements:
- Strong use of outline
- Secondary colors of green and orange
Make the Connection:
Without knowing at least something about the reference here by the artist, it is easy to miss the entire content of this work. At the top, “Strange Fruit,” written in bold green letters is a reference to the song of the same name performed by Billie Holliday. The song was based on an original poem written by Jewish-American Abel Meeropol which protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Connect the figure and the words to determine the meaning of this mural.
Continue to 7th, turn right, look down alley
Location: 300 N. Tryon Street located on side wall down E. 7th Street
Artist: Caitlin McDonagh
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @caitlynmcdonagh
Story: Canadian artist and illustrator Caitlin McDonagh painted this mural as part of “Dripped on the Road” for Talking Walls 2019. “Dripped on the Road” is a traveling artist residency program based out of Brooklyn. For several weeks resident artists and mentors travel and camp in an RV in national parks, give talks to universities, and paint murals.
Key Formal Elements:
- Flowing lines
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Make the Connection:
McDonagh is interested in folklore, fables, and fairy tales. And giving your imagination a workout. Follow the flowing ribbons in her composition through the trees, human-bird figure, eyes, and moon. Now tell your own story about what is happening here.