Mural

 New Saliki mural going up on the south Wall of The Big Chill. Artist expects to have it done by Tuesday, in time for next weekend's SIUC Family Weekend. As far as I am aware, this is the first mural designed for selfies in town.

Bucky Murals

 By my count there are at least 4 murals celebrating or referencing Buckminister Fuller. There is the geodesic dome mural on the side of my building at 207 West Main Street and one on the rear of the buidling 5 doors further to the west. You have to drive the alley that runs paralled on the south side of West Main to see it.

There is one on the rear of the 301 Artspace building on West Walnut and anotehr one ont he back of a housing unit on South Washington that is visible from the railroad tracks or parking lot abuting them. 

That's a lot of Fuller memoraliazation apearing within the past couple of years.

Mural

 Cool mural but not sure how it relates to Carbondale or Southern Illinois? The others that have gone up have either referenced SIUC directly, Buckminister Fuller or illustrated Carbondale's relationship with the rail industry or the historical importance of Woodlawn Cemetary. The owl, located on the back of Slabz Skatepark, is striking but how, if at all, does it tie into Carbonale.  sure the building owner can paint whatever they want on it, within reason,  but most mural projects tangentally relate to the community. Maybe I am missing the point of the mural. If so, could someone clarify it for me?

Mural Ordinance Change

 According to city ordinance, any murals painted on walls in the city could be graphics only, no text. The murals painted under the auspices of Artspace 304 on the walls of SI Pawn and The Wellness Center both were in violation of this ordinance, so Tuesday night the city coucil passed an amendment to the ordinance allowing text in murals, thus once again proving the adage that "it is better to beg forgiveness than ask permission."

Mural

 Another mural completed, this one just west of Woodlawn Cemetary on the side of the Wellness Center. Features Calvin Scott playing the trumpet, as he does at every Memorial Day celebration at Woodlawn. The cameos are John A Logan on the right and Daniel Brush on the left.

Mural

Second Saluki Mural started over the weekend on the side of the Mountain Valley Water building, clearly visible to anyone heading west on Highway 13/ Main Street.  Started this past weekend, should be completed by this upcoming one. Project of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce Saluki Pride Committee.

 

Mural

 New mural going up on the east side of the Mountain Valley Water building. Will be another Saluki SIUC themed mural like the one downtown.  Plant is to paint it this weekend, weather permitting.

Mural

 Have you noticed the new mural on the north side of the old Cricket building at the intersection of Mill and Illinois?   It went up very quickly and will get dedicated as part of the Homecoming festivites this Thursday at noon.

Mural

 Quietly, the Chamber of Commerce and SIUC have painted a SIUC themed mural on the north side of the old Cricket building at the intersection of Mill, Illinois and Universty. The mural features a 2 story tall  Saluki dog head on a maroon background surrounded by the logos of the various SIUC colleges. Very nice and very quickly done.

Edited to remove the city ,which is focusing on its own mural project in conjunction with Artspace 305.

Murals

 

The downtown mural project has quietly started. This mural going up on the side of SI Pawn at the intersection of Walnut and University. Not one of the propsed murals for this spot though. 

Murals

 Given the amount of discussion over the murals proposed by 304 Artspace, I noticed someone starting painting on the wall of SI Pawn at the corner of Walnut and Universiy. No idea if it is one of the proposed murals or something different.

Certificate of Appropriateness

 Sat in on a meeting of the Certificate of Appropriateness subcommittee of the Presearvation Commission, regarding the 5 proposed murals for downtown.  From what I understand, the Certificate of Appropriateness subcommittee determines if a building to which someone wants to make a change, such as painting a mural on it, is historically significant and, if the change is appropriate for the building.

In the case of the 5 building selected for the mural project, only the Varsity Theater and Julia Building fall into the historically significant category and the section of the Varsity for which the mural is proposed is of more recent brick so does not fall under the subcommittee's purview. That leaves the Julia Building, which the subcommittee determined did fall into the subcommittee's jurisdiction, so to speak. However, due to the type of rough brick from which the Julia Building is constructed, the committee determined it would be very difficult to paint a mural on it and, I think, decided to recommned that panels be affixed to the building and a mural painted on them. 

The subcommittee has no say as to whether murals are painted or not and I am not sure what happens if it fails to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for a project.

Murals

 Here is a link to the proposed murals for placement in downtown Carbondale. Voting closes on June 28 and plans currently are to have them finished sometime this fall. I am not a big fan of any of the choices as, save for the comedians of Carbondale,  they do not reflect anything particularly unique about the community. The trains are good, as Carbondale has its roots in the railroad but how about an acknowledgement as to why the trains came here? I know the coal industry is in decline today and for good reason, but the trains came here because of coal.

the only acknowledgement I see of Buckminister Fuller is the geodesic dome behind the two trains on one of the Varsity Centery murals. His thinking and concepts are broad enough that the man deserves an entire mural to himself. 

Why not a reference to Woodlawn Cemetary on the side of the Wallace Building? Some image that reflects the solemnity and history associated with Woodlawn.

I like the one featuring the fruits and vegetables proposed for the side of the Julia building but cannot tell if there is a callout in the image to the Carbondale Farmer's Market, which is one of the oldest farmers markets in the Midwest and which the AAA ranked as one of the top 5 in the Midwest.

Murals

 The City of Carbondale is looking for someone(s) to paint 5 murals in downtown Carbondale. Locations are the Wallace Building, SI Pawn, Varsity Center for the Arts, Julia Building and Horstman's Cleaners. You can see the spots here as well as the mural on the side of Arnette's Barber Shop which looks to be what the city is looking for.

The Chamber of Commerce is working on something similar but  prominently featuring SIUC's logo and images.