ARTIST: RENE FERNANDEZ The muralist, sculptor and artist Rene Fernandez contributed one of Houston’s more recognizable murals to Numbers Night Club, featuring portraits of iconic ‘80s and ‘90s alternative music artists. The mural is a perfect t for Numbers, which has been hosting judgment- free dance parties and concerts on Westheimer Road since the 1970s. Artists featured on the mural, which went up in 2014, include David Bowie, Robert Smith and Billy Idol.
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DIXIE FRIEND GAY
SHAWN ARRAJJ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Murals and other public art displays can be found throughout Arts District Houston, an area along the Washington Avenue corridor that features more than 300 studio spaces for artists and designers. The Art Alley at Sawyer Yards hosts murals by multiple artists.
SOFIA GONZALEZ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Dixie Friend Gay is the artist behind “Wild Wonder- land,” a mural in Midtown Park. She said she found inspiration from her own garden to create the mural. Gay was commissioned to paint the piece after winning a submission process among local artists. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEAS BEHIND YOUR ARTWORK? I work in a series of ideas, which makes it easy to latch onto an idea. Once I’m excited about it, I’m researching it. I read all the time. I listen to recorded books, and they all tie into whatever it is that I’m doing in my work. I guess my work has been about the inner interconnectedness between the ora and the fauna, and that’s certainly what Midtown is about. WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE ‘WILD WONDERLAND’ MURAL? The inspiration for the mural was about the native plants of our area and the butter ies that feed on those plants that are host to them. I really work in my own garden to make it a place that the birds, the caterpillars and the bees can feel comfortable. So it was just celebrating that and putting that together. I know that people respond to a mural that has oversized creatures in it; they relate to them as a one to one and seeing them eye to eye, which is nice. WHAT WAS THE MAIN MESSAGE YOU WANTED THE MURAL TO CONVEY? It’s really important to have our native plants that are hosts for the ecosystem here and get rid of the invasive things. So it’s a celebration of our plants, and it raises the awareness that even a garden ... can create an environment for our pollinators.
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A Friendswood-area gra ti artist known as Pilot FX added a towering owl mural to the mix.
A large piece that reads “Art is in the Making” by David Maldinado can be found on the side of Winter Street Studios.
A large bat head by a Houston artist known as Eyesore can be found on a brick wall alongside other murals.
Painter and artist Vincent Fink contributed a series of surrealist characters with geometric heads.
PHOTOS BY SHAWN ARRAJJ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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HEIGHTS RIVER OAKS MONTROSE EDITION • MAY 2022
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