Public Art – The 1% That Matters Most

A Hide and Seek Mural at Covington

About 30 interested students from the graduating 6th grade class from Covington Elementary School in Los Altos met with me during their lunch hour to design a mural that would be their legacy gift to the school. Since this mural was to be hand-painted outside of the library, we thought a girl reading under a tree would be nice. (Only two boys gave up their lunch hour to come to the meeting, and 28 girls vetoed the idea that the reader could be a boy.) They also wanted their school mural to include a coyote somehow, but we were not sure whether it should be a realistic coyote in the mural, which could seem menacing to the lonely reader, or maybe a cartoon coyote outside the mural. Once I got to painting, the details all worked out. I settled on five readers so that both genders would feel included. I also included not one but four (!) coyotes in the mural.

What? You don’t see the coyotes? That is where the fun begins. The kids in the “know” enjoyed bringing their friends and teachers over to the tree mural and asking, “Can you find four coyotes?” This small hide and seek trick delighted and engaged the kids so much, I might make it a staple in my future mural projects. Can you find four? (And btw that is a bunny in the lower left jumping out at you, not a coyote.)

Published!

The Los Altos Town Crier published a nice write up about the Covington project that says it all better than I can.

They also published an opinion article the following week that regarded public art as a waste of money. I was thrilled they also published my response to that opinion. It was easy to write about a topic that from my experience seems obvious. I see and experience the results, the positive impact public art can make in an environment, on a daily basis.

You can read my response here: Public Art: The 1% That Matters Most

I recently finished a white paper in collaboration with the director of Parks and Recreation of Redwood City, Chris Beth, titled “A Handbook For Public Mural Projects”. Redwood City will use it as a reference for their public arts program and they are generously permitting me to share it with other communities as well. Please forward this link to your city manager! (Unless you happen to live in Redwood City, in which case, you have a LOT of great public art in the pipeline already….)

A Handbook for Public Mural Projects

Also new on my website: An interactive map with over 50 public murals I have painted.

I love sharing what is best and brightest in my world of painting through my monthly e-mail newsletters. However, I am only able to share a small fraction of the projects I work on and the adventures I have in my line of work in the newsletter. So, I have launched a Morgan Mural Studios Facebook page. I have been posting progress photos, funny comments from clients and strangers, and behind the scenes action. Come visit sometime. If you like what you see, you know what to do!

Morgan Mural Studios on Facebook

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Warm regards,