Good morning friends, I was hoping to be giving you a celebratory recap to a large project I’ve been working on as my August newsletter. But life had other plans! Here’s an update nonetheless. Right in the juicy thick of it!
The second week of July I started a large group mural project in Spokane. The client got in touch with me in the spring and after walking the site…which was a 700+ ft long cement fence…I decided to pitch an idea. It felt like too much ground for one artist to cover. Over 5,200 sq ft needed to be washed, primed and painted. I took it as an opportunity to use my past experience as an arts organizer and whip up a plan for something beautiful and collaborative.
First mistake came early.
During the first site visit I “measured” the fence. I use this term lightly because I did a really bad job. Like some 300-ft-off bad. So, on the first work day when I came to measure out each artist section I realized I was in trouble. I was going to have to eat the difference and design/paint not just 100ft of mural, which my designs were already complete for and ready to go, I was going to have to design and paint 350 ft of mural just myself. Yeah. Just to put it in perspective…the largest length of mural I had ever done before this project is 40ft long. As you can imagine, this large of an error has massively affected paint budget, time frame and just my general energy level capacity. The group of artists I’m working with generously took on extra chunks of space to help and friends have been stepping in to volunteer. Humbling to say the least.
Second mistake maybe isn’t a mistake as much as a cautionary tale and a huge learning experience.
Two days before completing the mural (we were SO close!) I woke up to a text from my friend who lives right by the location telling me to prepare myself. The mural had been heavily tagged. We had been tagged a couple times, nothing major, through the process but her tone seemed different. I braced myself and went down to asses the damage.
The site for the mural is along the train tracks in East Central. There’s really no street that runs by it and the walking/bike pathway at the beginning along the river turns to rocky slanted hill at about a quarter of the way through the mural. For the majority of it, it’s rocky/weedy terrain that pretty much no one sees. The wall has been a site for graffiti art and tagging for as long as it’s been there. When we had it primed, we covered over 5200 sq ft of someone else’s work.
During this project I have seen first hand how powerful the concept of perspective is. Going in, I knew the site. I knew by nature it was a high risk site for a mural. If it had just been me, I would have said no. But I saw it as a really cool opportunity to do something communal with other artists I love. We all knew it would get tagged and planned to just leave the completed mural for the client to manage.
I’m not going to sit here and try to educate you on graffiti art or tagging and how that community works. You can do some research. But I just want to say, snap generalized judgements usually have zero depth and they dehumanize and make someone the “other”. The balance this situation has required of opening my own perspective, learning and seeing the other side…while also holding my own experience and perspective has been an even bigger challenge than painting the largest mural of my life. Ok, maybe that’s been harder lol.
The mural got tagged, yes. Like a lot, and really poorly. A group of people came out at night and spray painted literally nothing special or interesting or creative over our work. Some of the sections had taken 30 hours to execute. Our work was set back. But the client is righting it with more budget and we are painting a clear coat for graffiti removal over the finished piece. That all is what it is. I was hired to do a job and I’m doing it and it’s going to be really beautiful.
The experience with this group of artists has been one of the most memorable, sweet, fun, exciting collaborations of my life. It has been truly a joy despite (and sometime’s in spite) of it’s challenges. Creativity is a regenerative resource. And daily I am seeing and feeling that on this project.
Are you truly a muralist if you haven’t spilled a whole quart of paint in your car?
Here’s the thoughts and questions I’m working through. It would have been nice to just paint some cute shit on a wall. But you know, art sometimes gets existential.
Is it possible to truly see each other without abandoning our own needs and ideas? To listen, hold space and truly wish for the best (working towards it when possible) without choosing to pack the other person’s entire systemic struggle onto your shoulders?
When someone listens and sees us yet doesn’t vastly change their mind, how do we handle that? Do we retaliate or accept the differences? Are there other options?
Art beautifies, but technically so does gentrification. How does art acknowledge and show up inside the conflict between the two?
It is absolutely a privilege to be a working artist. But with that territory comes existing within a capitalistic framework that inherently disenfranchises entire communities. What is my obligation as someone who takes time to see the cracks in that system to act on making things better?
I suppose a lot of those questions are the same singular question I’m carrying. How to be me, exactly where I’m at, while also being a person who wants to learn and wants change.
I hope you have a beautiful day! Thanks for being here.
-Kf
EVENTS:
Playing 3 hours of original music and covers with Jenny Anne and Caroline this coming Sunday. It’s a beautiful setting right on Liberty lake. Perfect for bringing the kids (who get in free!). Bring a cooler and a blanket and enjoy the lovely summer night.
August 19th - Alcohol & Feelings - Maxwell House
