West Art District faces a white wash by the city of Orlando.

Posted on by Thor

The West Art District is located 1011 West Central Avenue near Westmoreland. Walking here was an adventure from downtown Orlando. Several blocks of Central are closed off due to construction of the new Orlando City Soccer Stadium. Fencing closed the street but the sidewalk remained open. The Homeless coalition had cardboard boxes and bundles possessions blocking part of the sidewalk. The sight of the colorful murals brightened the otherwise dingy neighborhood.

In May, the City of Orlando will be holding a public hearings to address code violations for this group of buildings known as The West Art District. According to city code, a building can not have murals on the front of the building. These buildings have all four walls covered in murals. A neighbor of West Art District put in the complaint. Harrison Rai, the manager of the property fears that the city wants to whitewash the front of the buildings. With the Orlando City Soccer Stadium gentrifying the neighborhood more people might have a chance to see the murals. In Miami’s Wynwood District, every building is covered with murals created by artists from around the world. During Art Basel, an international artists exhibition, new art is added to the walls each year.

Several years ago I was asked to design a mural for the front of the Fringe offices. Money was raised to fund the project but before work began, the building was torn down to make room for a sky rise condo. Had I actually completed the mural, it might have faced a city whitewashing because of the ordinance.

In
2015, the City created a new, streamlined process to approve artistic
murals and allow for this creative expression to expand in the City. Below is an
overview of our current mural policy process. Any mural not meeting
these requirements may still be allowed but would require a sign permit.


Location
in the City: The artistic mural must be located in a non-residential
area that is designated as an activity center or mixed-use corridor
inside a Main Street or Market Street that isn’t a historic district or
be adjacent to a LYMMO or SunRail station.


Location on the Building: The artistic mural must be on either the sides or rear of the building.


Height
of the Mural: The artistic mural can only take up a certain percentage
of the wall depending on the height. No mural can be more than 60 feet tall.


Commercial
Message and Text: The artistic mural can have a sponsor (text or logo)
but can not take up more than 5% of the mural. Any non-commercial text,
separate from the sponsorship, can also not take up more than 5% of the
mural


Maintenance
Standards: Prior to painting, the area must be properly cleaned and
primed. If the mural is defaced, peels, fades or is not maintained it
will need to be repaired or painted over within 30 days.


Approval
Process: Artistic murals require a joint application of the property
owner and artist to the City. The application includes the concept for
the mural, size and location. The application must be submitted in
advance of the mural being installed. Murals inside the Downtown area will also require approval by Appearance Review Board staff. 

With so many rules regulations and reviews, artistic expression seems boxed in, much to the standards of the Orwellian 1984 society.

Wynwood at Art Basel.

Posted on by Thor

Plans to go to Art Basel on Saturday were Shanghaied when I went to a gallery in New Smyrna Beach. I couldn’t sketch at this opening, so there isn’t much to report. I kept my hands in my pockets except when sipping a Coke or eating pretzels. Occasionally shrimp circulated around the room on a tray. The show consisted of small paintings competitively priced for the holidays.

I made the three-and-a-half hour drive down to Miami on Sunday instead. After parking in the Wynwood District I only had to walk one block before I saw a graffiti artist at work. This NYC artist was named Cortez. I couldn’t make out what the letters were in the tag, but now after the fact, I’m thinking it might be his name. I got lost sketching the tag, so don’t expect to read it in my sketch. It became an abstraction of bright colors, valves and shapes. The artist’s girlfriend videotaped me as I sketched, and I asked the artist to sign my sketch when I was done. Art tourists kept taking photos of the wall in progress. For some people, the only way to experience art is to photograph it.

I explored the Wynwood Walls and several galleries before heading over to the convention center, which is at the heart of Art Basel. Tickets to get in are like $45. I got there at the end of the day so paying for a few hours of browsing seemed like a waste. Instead I went to Ink, which consisted of galleries specializing in limited edition artists prints. Flying Horse Editions from UCF here in Orlando was on site. Each gallery had a quaint motel room surrounding a courtyard with a long central fountain. Since I am searching for a rental apartment, I desperately wanted to convert one of these small units into a studio.

I went to a public park near the convention center where sculptures we scattered in the grass. Long- legged camels walked above a shimmering mirage reflection. Jesus had open avocados on his head, shoulders and forearms. Perhaps he as actually the patron saint of avocados. A black hula hoop was plopped on top of a pile of road tar, and the crowning glory was a pile of six-foot-high brightly colored pebbles that looked like the cheery painted rocks you might find in a fish tank.

I stopped at Maxine’s on Collins Avenue for a bite to eat. It isn’t as good as the Maxine’s in Orlando, but I went in h honor. Afterwards I followed the long line of red taillights that inched towards I-95 to drive north into the night.