Arts District Houston Mural
Thank you so much to the Arts District Houston for the project management, creative freedom, storytelling opportunity, and for beautifying the community, while honoring the past.
1520 Silver Street, Houston, TX
In my research of the history of the first and sixth wards, imagining a time in the past, I visualized everyday life, the houses, the railroad workers, what it would be like to walk the streets. I imagined the old fashioned front yard gardening and sought out to include native plants and trees in my design. The layout of the mural was inspired by an antique Victorian storytelling wallpaper “The Huntsman”. The wave going through the middle of the mural represents the bayous that bind the neighborhood. The sections of plants and trees are what you might see as a stroller through the neighborhood, and farther down the line, the farmland you might see from a train rolling through TX. I definitely have a love for the railroad, so the location of the mural on the railroad tracks at Silver Street, in the historically designated area, was a cool place to hang out and paint. While painting the focal point, the old steam engine, an engineer from a passing train gave me a thumbs up, I felt a nice wink in both directions, a tribute to how the city operates and thrives, past and present. I have a few more related stories that I’ll share here and there! The building houses Bayou City Adventures, you can canoe or kayak with them on the bayous! Thanks to Arts District Houston, HUE Mural Fest, Fresh Arts, Houston MOCA, Houston Arts Alliance and Texas Commission of the Arts.
Photos by Gisele Parra Photography (well, the great ones, others iphone progress shots)