The Graffiti Yard

By: Jameal Jones

While touring the street art of Houston, Texas, I was truly amazed at the artistic abilities of all the artists. Men, women, and children all come and paint on the buildings. The many faces, the monsters, the manikins, but the one piece I loved the most was the “Alice in Wonderland” mural.

Unnamed by Unknown Artist
Spary paint mural

On it was Alice, Rabbit, the Rat, the plants, and even the evil queen. Far in the back of the mural was the castle of the wizard from the story “The Wizard of Oz.” On the side of, someone had painted a giant marker and pencil, which I was pretending to grab.

The inside of the building I saw manikins that were painted and attached to them were sparkles and flowers to make them look realistic. The gentleman told me the manikin had actually been stolen before, but was returned. I can see why someone would want it, that art piece was gorgeous. If it were in an art show, I would have definitely bid on them.

I saw a monkey hanging from the ceiling, I cannot recall the monkey’s name, but I asked the story of the monkey and was told that he was the guard of the building.

I plan on going back one day to take my niece and nephews who love to draw, just to give them a broader look at art. Hopefully, they will be allowed to add their names to a wall like I was able to. This artwork should definitely be shown to the world. 

In Time

By: Alicia Benefield

 

Art is something that I considered beautiful upon immediate viewing. Sometimes you have to really look at a work of art to see the beauty in it. Everyone has their own view as to what they see as art or beauty for that matter. The piece In Time, to me was beautiful at inspection.

In Minds Sculpture by Tonu Cragg

I was looking at it from across the street and I thought “who on earth would put these two pieces of metal on the street for people to see, this is awful”. I crossed the street and took another gander at it and got another view. This view was absolutely lovely; every time I walked around this piece I saw something different. The long neck of an African sculpture including her chin and the top of her bosom was at one side. The other looked like mounds of boulders stacked on top of each other. I had passed this particular piece a few times and had never even paid any attention to it until the tour. I walked around the two sculptures a few times to really study them. The middle and the top of the thinner sculpture looked like stacked plates. If you looked at the same piece it reminded you of an Aztec sculpture. From across the street the two pieces did look like two different sized test tubes.

Everyone evokes a different emotion when they view “art”. Some people don’t see a need for art, and believe it is absolutely ludicrous. I think that there is a need for art, visual art for that matter. The act of creating these wonderful pieces gets out pent up energy that is inside of the artist. It may keep them sane or insane for some. What you get out of a painting or sculpture is up to you, after all beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Houston's Street Art Mecca

By: Jeremy Gallagher

Unknown by unknown artist
Spray paint on wall

Works of art appear throughout the Houston area. You can find these various forms of art in galleries and museums throughout the city; however, these are not the only curators of beautiful artwork in the Houston area. Another arena of art emerges in today's modern society, commonly referred to as street or graffiti art.

If your parents were anything like mine, every time a defaced train passed during a drive, you too received a constant, uninformed and misdirected lecture about why graffiti is an illegal art that should be punished for its destructive nature. In addition to this, my parents criticized the magnificent paintings of spray paint and was actually told that these painters possessed no skill because it was not actually an art but merely the ability to colorfully portray a word or an image of no significant meaning. However, upon my introduction to Houston's Street Art Mecca, I obtained an entirely new perspective of the art, a more experienced and pure one.

The beautiful, glossy shine, created by the chemical oils in the spray-paint captures a viewer's attention, appearing so unique compared to other paintings and wall murals. Ultimately, I highly recommend any urban art lover to explore the wide variety of the majestic canvases of Houston's Street Art Mecca, and possibly discover an enjoyment of something society previously condemned.

Street Art Village

By: Allie Reid

The street art village is a group of buildings, called The Mullet, which once had dull, blank, bland walls and are now filled with bright, amazing art.  Not just one, but many artists help to make this place full of art; the buildings themselves are art.  The artists are able to go to The Mullet and let their creativity run free, legally.  No one has to worry about getting caught or getting into legal trouble.  They are free to do whatever they please. 

Unknown by Unknown artist
Spraypaint on wall

When driving up to The Mullet, you may think that it is amazing from the few pieces of artwork you see from the road, but once you walk around the buildings, you will be awestruck.  The walls are filled with hundreds of paintings, both inside and out.  The paintings took much time and effort to come out to the end result of what the artists want.  When looking at the walls, you will see how talented the artists truly are.  Most of the art is done with just spray paint, which is amazing.  For the artists to be able to control the can of paint and end with an amazing piece of art takes true talent. 

Each artist took their time to create what they felt needed to be created.  There are paintings of text, movie characters, and just random drawings.  Some may not be able to appreciate this kind of art, but it truly is amazing.  The Mullet is a great place to let artists free their mind legally, and paint with no fines.  It is also a great place because the public can go out and see all of the amazing work displayed!

The Virtuoso

By: Heather Savage
 

Located in the northern part of downtown Houston is the Lyric Center
 building. This building is home to a fascinating sculpture called the
 Virtuoso. The Virtuoso towers the street corner of Smith and Prairie at
 thirty-six feet tall. It is a figurative work of art that is three 
dimensional.



The Virtuoso by David Adickes
A steel and concrete statue

Its creator, David Adickes, sculpted its white cellist 
body out of thirty-six tons of steel and concrete in 1983. While approaching
 the solid white cellist body, music can be heard continuously and
 drowns the rush hour roar of traffic that floods past.

The music seems 
to grab your attention and serenade you into the art piece. Behind the
 cellist at its base are the remaining three members of the quartet; and
 these woodwind musicians also have the bodily appearance of a cello. These three supporting musicians consist of a violin, flute, as well as 
another cello. At first glance, it appears the Virtuoso cellist is 
playing his cello; taking a closer look behind the piece you can see
 the cellist body is formed from the cello itself. Allusively, his 
hands float above the body, holding his bow that strums the hypnotic
 notes. The piece begins to take on magical attributes that holds your 
interest and keeps you desiring more. Looking closer at the cellist
 face, musical notes could almost be seen; such as a quarter note might
 just form the nose and the left eye.

A thoughtful conclusion could be
 made that the cellist is one with his cello and his music; as it is most
 definitely a part of him.

The Sky Lobby

 

By: Caleb Moore

 

Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States of America, right behind New York, L.A., and Chicago. With all big cities comes a magnificent skyline with striking beauty that will leave an impression on anyone who sees it. This is no different when looking at the Houston Skyline. In downtown Houston, located at the corner of Travis and Capitol Street, lies the prominent, 75-story JPMorgan Chase Tower. When walking up to the front door of the Tower, you feel an overwhelming sense of how small you actually are. After walking through the glass doors and enter into the lobby there are six metallic elevator doors that go to only one place… The Sky Lobby.

The Sky Lobby

Press the elevator call button, step on, and get ready for a quick ride to the 60^th floor of the Tower. As the elevator shoots up to the lobby in the sky, you can hear the air rushing past, you can almost hear a whistle sound from the wind, and your ears begin to pop. Until, finally you reach the vantage point. As the doors open you see the light entering the room from the glass wall, you know you have reached The Sky Lobby. While walking out of the elevator, you see a miniature version of the Personage and Birds, the art statue at the entrance of the Tower, along with multiple red bromeliads in low lying pots. From the look out point, you get a striking view of pieces from the Theatre District and many other architectural achievements.

Though many structures make up the skyline of Houston, the JPMorgan Chase Tower offers a unique birds-eye-view. When people come together and create a towering metropolis, they also created a view everyone should see.