COVID 19 mural art on Capital Hill May 2020

This is an introductory essay on the mural art in Seattle that is filling the boarded up windows of so many stores. I need to do a lot more research on the artists and the sponsors, but here I will simply post the murals I saw yesterday. I spoke with one artist Tara Velan who was working on a mural as I spoke to her, and I spoke to one sponsor, Oddfellows Hall, who explained that they put out a call and paid the artists.

More to Come. Here are the murals. They range from subtle work to pop, from highly trained to graffitti. As a person who has written about mural art in the 1930s and 1960s, the first era inspired by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco, the three great Mexican muralists, the second era partially by Judy Baca, who studied with Siqueiros, it is clear we are in a new era today.

The artists draw from many directions, but there is no larger political message/ philosophy that I saw. No anti capitalism or references to the failures of the government, or underlying issues. The murals are of course on the windows of stores, but they are small businesses in grave danger of disappearing, so a larger message seems possible, but perhaps not what these stores want. Perhaps when I venture down to Pioneer Square, I will see a different story.

On the other hand, collectively they create a strong message of solidarity that we all can benefit from at this moment, even though few people are actually walking on the street. I have simply put up all the murals I saw as I walked down the street, no editing, no curating! You will see how many different styles appear. And our current pandemic has its own iconography such as”Tiger King.” which will be available for future art historians to puzzle over.

Tara Vela supported WANMA that is supporting musicians. This is the completed mural she is painting above
Tara Vela on the right
Ethan Rivelle tour parts around the corner
Morgan Zion
detail of above by Morgan Zion
barely awake kalee
Elisa Maelen
Elisa Maelen These have already disappeared! The store is open.
Elisa Maelen
barely awake kalee ( I couldn’t find this on twitter)
Kreau
The Queen City Great reference to Matisse!
Sean David Williams
Burgundy Viscosi
Tara Velen left
Maad Kidd
Lines by Hella Fragile, words by Laura Sullivan Cassidy
The Chaotic Aquatic
Stacy Milrany
Ben Hubbard
Bella Pham
Mari Shibuya and VK Signs
Morgan Zion at Molly Moon Icecream
Morgan Zion at Molly Moon
@grreviews @artprimo Gola1
Josephine Rice
Patrick Nguyen
Shogo Ota
Patrick Nguyen left Mia Pizzuto center
Morgan Zion at Coastal Kitchen on 15th
Morgan Zion at Coastal Kitchen
Ezra Dickinson at Life on Mars photo by Catherine Anstett
Anne Siems at Life on Mars photo by Catherine Anstett
Anne Siems photo by Henry Matthews
J Prine Life on Mars cafe by Henry Matthews
Crystal Barbre at Life on Mars cafephoto by Henry Matthews
Detail of vinyl or magic record player in Barbre mural photo by Henry Matthews
Crystal Barbre and Casey Weldon on Roq la Rue Gallery
Glynn Rosenberg
Sam Trout photo by Jeff Hou
Photo by Jeff Hou