A long stretch of blank wall on the CED building in the alley at Round Corners (near 24th & S) was brought to life last September by an all-women crew of street artists called, Few & Far (1). The crew, who flew in from numerous cities across the country to gather and paint together in…
Category: Local Artist
Brazen ~ CSUS
A pair of legs. Warrior’s legs, I’m sure. Maybe Roman by the look of the sandals. Brazen. This is a piece by Stephen Kaltenbach that stands near the entrance of the CSUS Alumni Center. “Only a playful ease with unease can yield pleasure and possibly reveal the complexity of an artist whose work is elusive…
Desert Cactus and Prickly Pear ~ 23rd & K Alley
A midtown business facing a problem with frequent intruders on their back patio hired artists rather than security guards to resolve the situation. Artist Margaret Arnold painted and Steve Cook sculpted, and together they secured the 30-foot-wide patio wall behind Western Properties office (1). The Art: The three-sided mural was painted by Arnold and is…
Spanish Fly Mural ~ 1723 J
Joplin, Hendrix, and Dylan. A simple and compelling mural by local artist, Pete Bettencourt, on the Spanish Fly Hair Garage Salon parking lot wall. The Art: Bettencourt’s imagery brings alive the expressive soul of these iconic musicians. The mural looks almost unfinished, and maybe more was planned, regardless, the open form with the use of…
Lily Moon Mural ~ 1115 21st
Thoughts of Van Gough drift through my imagination whenever I see this mural along 21st Street in the alley between J & K. Yellows, blues, purples, oranges and reds pop out of the black backdrop. Brush strokes in swirls, lines and dashes form a mountain lake sunset landscape, and, along the bottom edge, silhouetted figures…
Time To Wake Up ~ 17th & T
Letting go. Holding on. Waking up. Local artist, Shaun Burner, recently created this mural of metaphysical themes on the side of the Royal Market at 17th & T (1). Burner told Submerge that the open hand symbolizes letting go and the clutching fist with the oozing substance symbolizes holding on (2). The Artist: Burner’s work…
Alhambra Sweet Dream ~ 25th btw J & K
The Alhambra Theater was built in 1927 and demolished nearly 50 years later in 1974 after voters rejected a bond measure that would have preserved the historic movie house (1). This mural on 26th between J & K is a remembrance of the lovely theater that once graced our city. Wikipedia describes the Alhambra as…
Furlow Furrows Mural ~ 1716 L
“Things that crawl, bite, squirm, slither and cause serious harm; those are the things I dream about. Snakes, lizards, carnivorous mammals, birds, and insects with large mandibles are the most amazing organisms in my surreal world.” (Artist’s statement: The origin of my pathology) And so we enter the surreal world of artist John Stuart Berger,…
Ishi ~ 24th & Broadway
A wall over-looking a gas station parking lot is a surprising place for such a riveting mural as this one titled, Ishi, painted by Alex Forster (aka Cabrón). Cabrón was selected amongst a pool of entrants in a mural contest by the non-profit organization, Valley Vision, for the 16′ x 80′ external wall of their…
Mt. Diablo Sunset ~ 2220 J
Anytime of the day, you can travel along J Street and enjoy a ”Marty Stanley sunset” on this large mural. Marty Stanley, a foremost painter of the Sacramento delta, was well known for his paintings of delta sunsets (1). The full title of this mural is, “Mt. Diablo Sunset as seen from Bouldin Island at…