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This wall is more than this. 

There are those a bit more hesitant to jump into having their wall transformed into a one-of-a-kind large-scale work of art.  Rightfully so, painting a mural on an exterior wall is a huge leap of faith – especially for those unfamiliar with murals – or fine art for that matter.  It requires resources and knowledge.  It requires an understanding of layers of paint – old and new. It’s a large ‘canvas’ that will come in contact with many people -- with their many opinions.  And isn’t this just glorified graffiti anyhoo?  Then when you get down to the nitty gritty, you’ve got the wall surface.  Is it in the best shape for the artwork investment?  Exposed brick?  Watertight?  Will the artwork be sealed?  What happens if it is defaced?  Who’s responsible for the painting’s upkeep?

A lil light photoshoping skills and, poof, insta mural.

See, we’ve already got into a big ole ball of wax, and we haven’t even talked about art.  So let’s not.  Let’s have a virtual mural.  Better than that, let us have an exhibition of virtual murals inside a gallery.  A nice, safe, art gallery.

That’s exactly what High Point’s Theatre Art Galleries (TAG) offered for their latest exhibition, titled Urban Expressions.  Earlier this year TAG sent out a call for artists interested in having their art designs superimposed on photographs of existing exterior walls in and around downtown High Point.  Once juried in, each artist is assigned a building or two, provided with images featuring a wall of said building, and then are asked to provide a digital copy of artwork that will be digitally inserted onto the photographs.  Each augmented image will be blown up to about three feet, mounted on board, and then placed on display for the exhibition.

I dig how the design interrelates with the building structures.

Folks I feel this is a lovely, risk averse way to demonstrate how buildings we all know and love could be transformed with bona fide, bodacious artwork.  So I entered.  I was juried in and created three images to be superimposed over three well-known buildings in High Point.

The exhibition features 21 visual artists and over 30 virtual mural photographs in large format.  And the murals are quite diverse in technique, complexity, style, and message.  TAG even awarded several of the artists cash money for their effort.  Yours truly snagged an Honorable Mention for one of my designs. 

Windows to the soul and pearl whites.  Image by Katherine Hagen

I am told several of the business/building owners were impressed by what they saw in the gallery and may even approach the artists to bring into fruition a slick, one-of-a-kind mural.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  Yes.  And you will smile too when you check out this exhibit.  In the meantime, enjoy the photo of a photo of a mural in a recent newspaper clipping.  Thank you, TAG for this opportunity – and congratulations to all the selected artists.

Urban Expressions is up Thursday, June 1, 2017 and runs through Friday, August 4.  Theatre Art Galleries located at 220 E Commerce Avenue in downtown High Point.  Give them a call at (336) 887-2137 and/or check out their website at tagart.org .