GUIDE
A guide to murals in Houston in 2022
The uno cial local
COMPILED BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & GEORGE WIEBE DESIGNED BY ANYA GALLANT
Public murals can be found throughout the Bellaire, Meyerland and West University Place area, including the 12-mural Story Trail in Gulfton as well as the many murals of Rice University. Community Impact Newspaper spoke with the artists behind several local murals, and more can be found at www.houstonmuralmap.org.
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g u i d e
SAN FELIPE ST.
610
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GULFTON STORY TRAIL
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UNIVERSITY BLVD.
PHOTOS BY GEORGE WIEBE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER ARTIST: GONZO247
BELLAIRE BLVD.
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The Houston native artist Mario Figueroa Jr., better known as GONZO247, has been leaving his mark around the city since the 1980s. In 2020 he was commissioned by Rice University to paint a mural outside one of the school’s temporary classrooms with collaboration from Rice students who were free to add their own contributions. Figueroa Jr. said his style was inspired by the cultural impact of hip-hop. The mural was a homecoming project that attempted to restore normalcy for students following closures during the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Gulfton community in Houston is home to the Gulfton Story Trail, a series of 12 murals completed in 2018 with the goal of celebrating the community and bringing people together. The mural trail was the brainchild of the nonpro t Culture of Health—Advancing Together, or CHAT, which helped bring the project to life alongside Arts Alliance Houston and the Mayor’s O ce of Cultural A airs. Each mural was inspired by a poem that was submitted to CHAT by Gulfton residents. Nine artists contributed to the project, including Alex Arzu and Jesse De Leon, who collaborated on three of the 12 murals. One of those murals, titled “Harvey,” depicts a woman with her hands clasped together over a red and blue background.
BRAESWOOD BLVD.
610
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ARTIST: JANAVI MAHIMTURA FOLMSBEE Trained in the re arts, Houston artist Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee brought “Waves of Wonder” to Hotel Ylem with the themes of “water” and “mother.” Mother of pearl was crushed into the pigment of the paint, which creates a sense of the small particles of the universe coming together. Mahimtura Folmsbee, a marine conservation artist who works with local marine nonpro ts, said her work often ties back to nature.
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The mural was inspired by a poem about a Gulfton resident’s experiences during Hurricane Harvey and is meant to inspire hope, Arzu said. “It’s about being grounded,” he said. “The colors behind her [are] reddish colors, and in front of her is blue. It’s a representation of purging the past and looking forward to the future.” Creating the mural alongside De Leon was a natural process, Arzu said. The duo has since collaborated on a number of other projects around Houston. “It was just fun the whole time,” he said. “We didn’t have to plan everything. It was all organic movement.”
ARTIST: DAVID WINTERS In 2018, David Winters, the owner and lead artist of Enhanced Space, completed the “Home Sweet Houston” mural on the side of an apartment complex across Brays Bayou, looking to attract passersby. Enhanced Space is an art studio that has worked around Texas since 1999 with a goal of “bringing cities to life through murals and art,” Winters said. Most of its work in the Houston area is indoors. Darvin Aroch assisted Winters in creating the mural.
This list is not comprehensive, and more murals can be found at www.houstonmuralmap.com .
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • MAY 2022
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