In a Portsmouth alley between two old warehouses is an array of colorful murals that celebrate the city.
Produced by the all-volunteer Support Portsmouth Public Art (SPPA) organization, more murals are on nearby Wall Street and throughout the city.
“Everyone deserves to enjoy art, and murals are uplifting and make you feel good,” said John Joyce, Vice President and Project Manager for SPPA.
Since its 2010 inception, the organization has placed about 100 art works in Portsmouth, including several sculptures such as a toad sculpture near the Children’s Museum of Virginia.
Recently added murals around the city are a collaboration between local and international artists and the SPPA board. It was paid for with a grant from the Portsmouth Fine Arts Commission and local business sponsors.
SPPA held its first-ever Wall Street Festival in May to add 10 more murals to the city.
The area is centered around an alley near the 900 block of High Street and the unmarked Hatton Street in the Innovation District. It sits between two almost 100-year-old warehouses that have a character of their own. Some artists incorporated the brickwork in their art.
Joyce owns one of the warehouses and knows all the nearby building owners who are pleased with the results.
Because Wall Street is on the mural map, Joyce requested a bull and a bear be painted. The bull was painted by Nico Cathcart, a Richmond-based artist who earned the Judges Award during the Inaugural Wall Street Mural Festival last May.
In her artist statement, she wrote: “Ferdinand is a story that I used to read, about a bull who would rather sit under a cork tree smelling flowers, than to fight. It’s a story about peace.”
The festival’s People’s Choice Award went to self-taught artist Nai Turner, owner of Sideline Images. In her artist statement she wrote, “My mural was about the seeds I’ve planted (foundation I’ve built) over the past seven years, and finally getting to a place where I’m seeing it come to life/grow. Also, (I) think my purpose is bigger than myself. My main thing has always been to reach back and inspire the youth to go further than they can ever dream. … I added Pharrell and Missy Elliot because they’re two people from Virginia that made me feel ok being different than my peers, and they’ve also influenced me creatively.”
Murals were chosen because it’s not a large investment and paint is inexpensive. Unlike sculptures, murals can be placed almost anywhere, have less liability and improve a building, Joyce said. Building owners and businesses encourage them.
“It’s amazing how well they’ve been received by the community,” he said.
He noted that murals on a building are considered a First Amendment right as long as it’s not obscene.
“You can’t regulate art,” he said.
The next mural project will be on Queen Street with artists creating various types of queens.
“It can be a queen from history to Queen Latifah to Freddy Mercury from the band Queen,” Joyce said.
