Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: Mural

One context for the Rutherford/Suarez mural is its host building. I wanted to show that. I also wanted a photo to include that lantern. This was the first mural completed in the 2019 Bright Walls Festival ; it was the last I photographed. For me that's mostly an accident of geography, as it's approximately the farthest mural from Jackson Coffee, where I usually meet with my friends. But another truth is that I saved this wall for last. I'd seen it on my way into town, and knew it needed to be photographed differently from the others. Anyway, here it is. ========== I didn't know when i started taking these photographs i'd make such a production of presenting them. I just got caught up in the project. Will I do it again? Probably not. The main problem's drawing boundaries. Just to mention a few nearby projects: Jackson's Bright Walls had a similar festival in 2018. Kalamazoo has murals all over the place . Battle Creek's Color the Creek was mentioned in yesterday's writeup. Lansing had a festival similar to Jackson's while I was posting these, called Below the Stacks . And there's the Grand Rapids ArtPrize , which is similar-but-different, and on a larger scale. It's not like any of these projects need me. But I had fun photographing this one.

In mid-August Sarah Rutherford and Justin Suarez , both of Rochester, New York, stopped in Jackson to make this mural on the wall of the Blake Building . It's a delight, but you've gotta be concerned about its visibility as those trees grow. (Not that I want them gone.) Yet the trees' fall colors complement the painting, here. The artists have worked together before , but immediately prior to the Jackson stop they'd been working on separate murals for Battle Creek's Color the Creek Festival --though I notice the murals are on the same building, and overlap at the corner. Suarez generally paints wildlife murals, while Rutherford's work has been decidedly feminist. The festival's other murals were painted a couple weeks later. This mural was the occasion for a thank-you party, given by the festival organizers for the sponsors and monetary patrons.

I've been showing you walls; thought I'd show you what Jackson's downtown looks like when you pull back a bit. Jackson was first settled in 1830 nearby on the Grand River; within a year this corner was on its way to becoming the community's heart. The square, now called Bucky Harris Park, is still dead-center in the downtown district, but the commercial center's moved away from the corner. The tall building in the foreground is the Blake Building , an upscale apartment structure. Albert Kahn designed the Tower Building , farther down Michigan Ave. Yes, there's a mural in the photo. We'll get back to it presently.

Louise Jones seems to name most of her murals but I've not seen a name for this one. Regardless, it's a wonder. Ouizi was born in Los Angeles, but has lived in Detroit since 2014; she credits the move to the town's supportive arts community. This is her second mural in Jackson ; here's hoping for many more.

I left the alley after photographing Karabo Poppy's wall , turned right onto Jackson Street and after a few steps was all like "WOW!" Of course I crossed the street. Ouizi scatters flowers everywhere she goes. I'll talk about that a bit more with tomorrow's photo.

The artist signed this project Karabo Poppy, which seems to be her normal practice. Ms. Moletsane's a South African, living now in Johannesburg, and to all appearances she's being quite successful . This work's nameless, but she describes it as a piece on "moving towards reaching potential." It's a striking mural, but quite difficult to photograph because of the extension on the adjacent building. The artist's Behance page for the piece also demonstrates that difficulty; an aerial (drone) shot on that page shows the entire mural, but still at an odd angle.

Claire Foxton's portrait of Wanda Beavers is just wonderful. Mama Tu-Tu runs a homeless shelter in Jackson . Claire's from Sydney, Australia, and this is what she does . ========== A bit of geography: This mural's on the back of the Lofts of Jackson's building, with the Emma Nichols Garden , where many of the festival's murals live, just visible on the right edge of my photo.. This location was the heart of the 2019 Bright Walls Festival . Most of the murals are just a few steps from this parking lot, and all are close-by.

This mural's got a name! The husband/wife team of Key Detai l and Julia Yu-Baba (she often goes by just Yu-Baba) grew up and were educated in Minsk, Belarus, but now live in New York City. The automobile's a Jaxon (or maybe Jackson ), which was of course manufactured in Jackson early in the last century. This mural's extremely well documented on Key Detail's Behance page . The vids on that page were by Owley; I suspect the photographs were as well. Regardless, they're terrific. The videos seem to show that Owley used a drone to capture at least some of his images. That makes sense.

Had I just walked a bit further on my first excursion into the Bright Walls project I'd have found this mural, as it's just a few steps beyond ZOER's effort behind Bella Notte. Jeremiah Britton 's a Jackson native, though he now lives in Brooklyn, where he works with Joe Geis . Together they head the graphics efforts at WeWork--although given the massive shakeup that company's undergoing you might think their jobs could be at risk. I wish them the best. The narrow alley makes this graphic difficult to photograph, and this photo doesn't really do it justice. Owley's photo on the Bright Walls website shows the same problem.

In full, this time. 'Tis rather pretty.

Bailey Sullivan says she's a " Brooklyn illustrator from Texas ," and symmetrical designs seem to be Bailzy's norm. This one goes all the way up the wall; I plan to show that tomorrow. This wall's the opposite wall of the building hosting Melissa Morse's mural , which I discussed yesterday.

I've kinda shown you this mural before, but here's a better angle . As usual, I couldn't find a title for this one, but it's clearly a garden. Melissa Morse is a Jackson native who moved to New York when she was young, then decided Jackson was better for her and for her art . She seems to be active in the Jackson community. The work's on a second floor wall and is set back a bit atop another building, which makes it difficult to photograph. I shot my photo from Jackson Coffee; Bright Walls' photographer Owley apparently used a crane to get a better photo .

From I Am Eelco's new mural at Jackson Bright Walls.

Across the Emma Nichols Garden from the Lofts of Jackson murals is this large painting by Eelco van den Berg , of Rotterdam (and apparently New York). If you follow that link you should click on the biography tab; it's excellent. I Am Eelco seems to be a busy muralist. This is his second mural for Bright Walls . And his Facebook page shows he's worked on two more murals in the month since the 2019 Bright Walls festival--he reports weather problems with both. My wide-angle photo really doesn't do the mural justice, so I'll be posting a detail pic tomorrow. The photo does give a sense of Emma's garden, which had clearly been recently reworked. I'm sure it will look better after things mature a bit. But those trees....

As you can see, the alley's still labeled Victory Lane at the Michigan Avenue end. Presumably this will change at some point. But who knows? Clay McAndrews is from Jackson and is a graphic artist employed by Consumers Energy. He and his wife Leslie Youngdahl came up with the notion that Jackson needed Bright Walls and are active in the festival's sponsoring team . This is Clay's second Bright Walls mural, by the way. They're surprisingly similar .

Lansing-based Brian Whitfield gives the Lofts of Jackson a nightclub. I love it. Brian's a graphic artist employed by Michigan's Department of Transportation, and an active artist in his spare time. Anyone who can resurrect Emil's is fine by me.

Jesse Kassel's another Detroiter, and much of his work is in this general style . He talks a bit about his art on this page . As usual, I can't find anything specific about this mural. Kassel's posted a photo of the work to his Instagram account , but (also as usual) says only that it's part of the Bright Walls festival. ========== It's clear that the festival organizers intentionally put a set of Michigan artists on this wall of the Lofts of Jackson. It makes an interesting group. There's one more in the set--I'll show it tomorrow--then we'll look at the work on the other side of the alley.

Today's Bright Walls mural. also facing the newly-rechristened Emma Nichols Garden in downtown Jackson, is by South Haven's Kayla Wyszynski Ridley. Kayla's done a number of murals to decorate her home city .