Sacramento’s already impressive street art scene is about to grow significantly when the 2018 Wide Open Walls open-air art festival returns Aug. 9–19. Just like last year, W.O.W. is bringing a well-rounded group of dozens of international and regional artists together to paint various locations around town, most notably is this year’s top-billed headliner, Los Angeles-based Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant), who has an iconic style and is arguably one of the most influential artists of our time. For his W.O.W. contribution, according to an article in Sactown Magazine, Fairey will be painting a giant Johnny Cash mural on the L Street side of the Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Sacramento.

Many other exciting international artists were announced last week that will be part of W.O.W. 2018’s roster, including Submerge favorites like Portugal’s Bordalo II, whose massive sculptures and murals of animals include thrown-away materials that he uses to “create, recreate, assemble and develop ideas” to try and “relate it to sustainability, ecological and social awareness,” according to his website Bordaloii.com; Italian street artist Pixel Pancho, known for his large-scale wall murals of “robotic creatures inspired by different environments” with heavy use of earth tones to “convey a more ancient feeling,” according to Pixelpancho.it; Spain’s David de la Mano, who creates large, dystopian murals of human and animal silhouettes with a minimalist style and monochromatic use of black; and many other artists who will traveling from far and wide to Sacramento come August.

“We believe that artistic expression is an integral part of the human experience, and can empower, inspire and transform lives,” W.O.W. wrote in a document recently submitted to Submerge. “Wide Open Walls celebrates art in all its forms, and endeavors to make art a part of daily life.”

Not to be outshined by the out-of-town artists, there are quite a few local Sacramento creators that will be part of Wide Open Walls this year as well, including Jenn Ponci, PAWN, Lin Fei Fei (originally from China but currently residing in Sacramento), Michele Ann Murtaugh, Jaya King, a group of Sacramento State alumni and students and many others.

“We are featuring an incredibly talented group of artists, with as many women painting as men,” W.O.W. states proudly, going on to say, “With the addition of multiple public block parties and the L Street Concert, Wide Open Walls will continue to showcase California’s capital as a diverse, thriving and exciting destination for visitors from all over the world.”

Learn more at Wow916.com, Facebook.com/WideOpenWalls916 or on Instagram (@wideopenwalls), and be sure to keep an eye out for more W.O.W. coverage right here in Submerge and on our socials (@submergemag).

**This write-up first appeared in print on page 8 of issue #269 (July 2 – 18, 2018)**

Standing in front of a blank wall bigger than a basketball court with 800 cans of spray paint and a surgical mask at the ready sounds like a scary adrenaline rush. But it’s a small piece of heaven for Michael McDaniel—an opportunity for the heart, mind and spirit to relax and create.

After living a childhood with uncontrolled psychosis that led to drug abuse and long stints in psychiatric hospitals, McDaniel’s spirituality helped him find a path to reality, and it included painting and helping others with their mental illness to be independent and creative.

McDaniel, 48, has been painting in Sacramento for nearly a decade. He has also been a case manager since 2005 at Transforming Lives, Cultivating Success (TLCS), a nonprofit that works to empower people who have mental illnesses and to prevent homelessness.

At TLCS, McDaniel has facilitated an art class for several years and has worked with more than 80 clients who struggle every day with psychotic symptoms, using art to provide them with a source of comfort and a way to express themselves.

“Art is in everything, and the greatest work of art is the human being,” McDaniel says. “I want to be able to share my artwork and use it to create community.”

McDaniel says he pictures these murals alongside community gardens, where students can learn about the importance of their environment in multiple ways.

Founder and producer of Wide Open Walls, David Sobon, has a similar goal. For Sobon, an international mural festival in Sacramento is the perfect way to build community, provide for underfunded art education, create landmarks, spur the economic engine and, ultimately, provide free, beautiful, art to all people.

Wide Open Walls (WOW), formerly the Sacramento Mural Festival, will feature McDaniel and 39 other artists—local, national and international—to transforming walls and neighborhoods across the city. He and 2 Hermano, of Sol Collective, are the two individual artists chosen through WOW’s commitment to supporting local nonprofits at the event.

Transformation is a key theme for this year’s WOW festival, which runs Aug. 10–20, 2017. Sobon has taken over last year’s inaugural Sacramento Mural Festival, run by Friends of the Arts Commission, and turned it into the largest event of its kind. No other mural festival has had 40 artists—many of them world renowned—create 40 murals in less than two weeks in one city, Sobon says.

The aim is to build upon the rich art culture of Sacramento that already permeates city walls, Sobon adds.

“I love going to museums—the Crocker is one of the best museums on the West Coast—and I love going to all the galleries around town, but I want to bring art to everyone, and bring art to everyone for free,” Sobon says about his vision. “Bringing art to everyone is not a new concept at all, I just want to bring it to the next level.”

For him, the next level means continuously adding new murals to the list of nearly 700 that already exist in the Sacramento area (check out Nathaniel Miller’s interactive mural map, to which Miller will be adding each WOW piece: Journalistnate.com/sacramento-mural-map/) and putting Sacramento on the international stage.

WOW seems a perfect companion to the Crocker’s current special exhibit, The First 10 Years of Hi-Fructose, which showcases many contemporary artists who are, or started out as, street artists.

Excitement is already building for artists like Lora Zombie—frequently featured in Hi-Fructose magazine—a self-taught, self-described grunge artist, who has gained a massive online following across the world with her pop culture and cartoon-inspired watercolor paintings and wall murals.

Through her art, she shares her mind and colors, which are influenced by her path, Zombie writes from her home in Russia.

“Sharing inspiration with as many people as possible,” Zombie says, is part of the importance of art accessibility. Inspiration—from American cartoons, comic books and the Gorillaz—is what led the down her to becoming an artist, she notes in her explanation of her latest project, a clothing line called HEROTIME.

Wanting to join Zombie Flesh Eaters, the studio behind the Gorillaz, she changed her name and flew to London at 16.

“I looked up the address for the Zombie Flesh Eaters studio and rang the doorbell with my portfolio in hand, and a lady opened the door, looked at me and unsure of what to make of me, promptly closed it again,” Zombie writes. “I learned an important lesson at the time about the discrepancy between the desired and the actual, and the need to have a flexible mind that is ready for introspection and change.”

For the next decade, Zombie chose to create her own work. The emergence of street art from those like Banksy, and online forums that followed, catapulted her to star status.

Her mural on R Street for WOW, she says, will be about a feeling of gratitude to the universe.

“I warned R Street, Lora just did a West Coast tour … she had thousands and thousands of people waiting in line to get her autograph, and meet her, and take selfies with her,” Sobon says. “They’re going to have a lot of people on R Street coming to watch her paint. Or coming to watch Molly Devlin and S.V. Williams paint on the side of the Foundry. And Micah Crandall-Bear is going to be painting behind the SMUD station next to Beatnik [Studios].”

Sobon continues, “When our artists are painting in the same venue, the same event, the same festival, we get the attention of not just sponsors worldwide but organizations like Visit Sacramento—I mean, Visit Sacramento is our presenting sponsor and I could not be more thrilled,” Sobon says, eyes wide, punctuating each word for emphasis. “When we have the agency that is in charge of marketing Sacramento globally, thinking that this is the biggest event in town, that it could add more beauty, more long-term benefits than anything else we’re doing, it gets me pretty excited.”

Sobon notes that the murals will go up not just on the grid, but also in outlying areas like the River District, where an increasing number of Sacramentans experiencing homelessness are struggling to find help.

“Art is for everyone, and they deserve beautiful art like everyone else,” Sobon notes.

Power Inn Alliance, the business alliance for the vast commercial/industrial area around Power Inn Road, is also a partner, wanting to bring beauty among the rows of warehouses. Particular attention has been given to Sacramento’s Promise Zone, which encompasses 22 square miles of the economically hardest-hit neighborhoods in the city—from Del Paso Heights in the North Area to The Avenues in the South County. Sobon says the art is a catalyst to spur more activity, tourism and interest beyond downtown and Midtown.

He adds that WOW will only get bigger, and he’s already received calls from Citrus Heights, Roseville and other communities.

“Our supporters include the California Endowment, SMUD and Bank of America, but the support of private citizens has been important,” he says. “It has to be art for everyone and everyone has to be able to apply, and it has to include all cultures, be inclusive and expanded to other neighborhoods.”

Sponsors assist in paying for materials and to get the artists to Sacramento, and businesses and landlords pay for the opportunity to have a mural, with additional revenue going toward art education.

“I’d love to inspire art education and teach kids how to do this art form correctly,” Sobon says. “Teach them the rules and do murals in their schools in their neighborhoods.”

The purpose is similar to why murals started going up in Sacramento in the first place, 40 years ago.

The Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF), a Sacramento-based art collective that started with the name Rebel Chicano Art Front in 1970, led much of the public art scene in Sacramento to promote political awareness, educate and feed youth, and foster support for Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

The impact of founders Jose Montoya and Esteban Villa is still widely felt in the region, and continues to be integral to the Chicano Art Movement in the western United States.

That tradition of accessibility and social responsibility is what Sobon hopes to continue. WOW will include opportunities for the public to engage with the artists at gallery openings, public mural tours, artists’ receptions and panels, First Friday and Second Saturday celebrations, the Wall Ball—an art-themed fundraiser for arts education—and while the artists are actually creating their large-scale works.

Sobon and curator Warren Brand gathered artists by both invitation and with a public call for artists. The final 40 will create works diverse as Sacramento and each bring a different perspective to mural art and participation in some of the most ignored alleys and streets.

McDaniel’s mural is set to go up at 917 Seventh St. in Improv Alley, just one of many alleys downtown sprinkled with art but that leave much to be desired.

His mural of the American River will show the greater universe above and below it.

“Light and water and matter create this incredible reality we get to experience,” McDaniel says of his concept, as he shares childhood memories of growing up with the American River in his backyard, and of fishing, hiking and biking. His paintings often include a bearded iris in memory of his mother, who suggested he start painting as a way to help him through his mental illness.

He includes the flower for a second reason.

“One day I was riding my bike with my camera and I stopped outside Sacramento State where I first saw this bearded iris, and started crying, ‘Dang Lord, I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never seen a flower like this?’ It humbled me and reminded me that life can be beautiful but can also be like a vapor.”

The thought matches the reality of street art—that it is, ultimately, temporary.

Sobon hopes that the murals created as part of WOW gain the same respect and recognition of those historic pieces around town that have been preserved over decades.

But even he’s not worried about losing this form of art.

“Last year, we only did one mural in Jazz Alley as part of the festival, but five more have gone up since then because artists got permission from landlords to do more,” he says. “A lot of artists are just looking for canvases to paint on. And festivals like this bring legitimacy to street art.”

You’ll have several opportunities before, during and after Wide Open Walls to experience the art of more than 40 muralists descending on Sacramento during the month of August. For a chance to purchase art and swag, visit Beatnik Studios Aug. 4–25, 2017, for the WOW gallery show, which will have more than 50 pieces on display for sale. The reception is Aug. 4. To check out the full list of WOW events, learn more about the artists, and donate to the cause, visit Wow916.com and follow WOW on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

**This article first appeared in print on pages 20 – 21 of issue #245 (July 31 – Aug. 14, 2017)**

The inaugural Sacramento Mural Festival took place for a week in August 2016 and left a colorful mark on the downtown area, bringing together nearly a dozen local and international artists to paint large-scale murals on buildings and walls. This year the event will return with a similar mission, even more artists and a new name, Wide Open Walls. Organizers are also looking to expand the event’s overall footprint to bring new works of art to areas like Natomas, Del Paso, the River District, Broadway, Oak Park, South Sacramento and Power Inn Road.

In a press release, Wide Open Walls event founder and well-known benefit auctioneer David Sobon stated that, “This festival will celebrate the incredibly rich story and promising future we have as a city that realizes the value that art brings to our lives,” going on to say, “Our strong artist culture is yet another great reason to live in, or visit Sacramento.”

Wide Open Walls will run from Aug. 10–20, 2017. Hit up Wow916.com to learn more and to find applications to be a participating artist or to volunteer. Be sure to mark your calendars and follow W.O.W. on their social media platforms, because you won’t want to miss this rare opportunity to see huge works of amazing art be created right in front of your own eyes.

**This write-up first appeared in print on page 8 of issue #238 (April 24 – May 8, 2017)**

Into the Light

Dynamic duos are usually associated with comic books or television superheroes that join forces in order to save the day; the Wonder Twins and Saturday Night Live’s Ace and Gary instantly come to mind. Typically, these duos eke out an existence lurking in the shadows in some metropolitan city where they carry out amazing acts of heroism. Sacramento has its own version of a heroic twosome, but instead of battling bad guys, muralists Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel swoop in with their paint brushes and vibrant hues to transform outdoor spaces from the outside in.

The two artists met while attending Mira Loma High School and reconnected shortly after college, eventually forming their own design business LC Studio Tutto and embarking on their first large-scale art project when they were invited to be a part of the 1409 R Street block transformation.

“That was kind of our first taste of being a part of something that totally transformed a place and as we started working in public. We got kind of hooked on that feeling of being able to create things that were really having an impact on people and touching people’s daily lives and experiences,” Christophel explains.

Lacin and Christophel are driven by this concept of connecting their work with the daily lives of those who move through the city. The art duo’s creativity thrives in urban spaces that have been either forgotten or left to wither in blight by reimagining and enriching each space through color and form to uncover the beauty and identity that wasn’t there before. Each credit their varied artistic backgrounds as the reason why their partnership works so well.

“Sofia and I feel like we have this great balance that happens between us,” Christophel says. “I have a very kind of micro perspective, and she has a kind of bigger picture perspective and is a lot more focused on color, so I think they’re very different backgrounds that we have, different skills, but they complement each other very well.”

Lately, the subject of public art in Sacramento has been at the forefront of just about every discussion involving the future of the city—from the grumblings over the millions of dollars being thrown in the direction of artist Jeff Koons to erect an artist offering to complement the highly contentious new downtown arena, to the simple discussion of what role should public art play in this cultural renaissance of Sacramento. Lacin and Hennessy’s latest creative undertaking, the Bright Underbelly project, serves as a reminder of why public art is vital to a city’s identity and character.

“The most powerful part of public art is that the space is not curated it’s out in the open, anyone can pass through,” Lacin says. “I think if you really pay attention to the site and the community, you are able to add elements in the design that resonate with anyone in that community. It becomes like this surprising little mirror of that culture, and I think that’s one of my favorite things. It’s out there in the open for anyone to experience.”

As the two celebrate a decade of working together, this dynamic duo have 70 installations under their belts that include the We’re All In It Together mural on Midtown’s BloodSource building; a mural and sculptural installation for The Mill at Broadway, a new urban housing community in Sacramento; as well as Hanging Mist an installation made up of 72 perforated aluminum panels painted in soft layers of color, forming two walls of the inner courtyard of Warehouse Artists Lofts. But it’s their ability to create a career out of their shared artistic passion that the two are really proud of.

“I was also lucky enough to grow up with creative parents, they run a business together, a professional photography studio,” Lacin explains. “So I kind of grew up with this, not only this model of creativity and how that is a valuable thing to contribute to the world but also, how do you make that your job, your full-time job. So, I have kind of done my best to make art a career for us and I just believe that I could never do anything else.”

While Lacin and Christophel are no strangers to creating larger-than-life art installations—they’re responsible for adorning a 4 million-gallon water tower in Davis they call Same Sun, which features shadows cast by sculptures moving against a radiant, golden-hued background—Bright Underbelly, a mural covering 70,000 square-feet and celebrating the seasons will hover above the city’s largest farmer’s market under the Highway 50 overpass at Eighth and W streets. It will be the largest project the twosome have tackled to date. After five months of lying on scissor lifts, kicking back on yellow lawn chairs procured from the streets of Midtown, it’s most certainly their most backbreaking project too.

“We’ve been in these chairs, lying down like freaks for five months under this freeway,” Lacin chuckles. “One of the weirdest parts about it, I couldn’t believe how exhausted I was. I was like ‘I’m lying down; this is going to be cool. I’m not going to be tired, I’m going to go party after.’ It was exhausting like driving for 12 hours is. You’re very focused, and it’s also a very isolated experience. To be two inches from the belly of the freeway that trembles as big rigs drive overhead.”

The inspiration for the project came from Bright Underbelly project manager Tre Borden after a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Borden, who is no stranger to the arts community after managing projects at Exhibit S gallery in the former Downtown Plaza and running the Flywheel artist incubator in 2012, says that this project is just what the community needs.

“I saw this pedestrian bridge that had been beautifully muraled as a way to kind of create a gateway into the arts and culture district and I thought, ‘Wow, we have so much stuff like that here that’s kind of just languishing so why don’t we do that?’” Borden explains. “We thought to prove our point, let’s pick the place that’s most visible where our farm-to-fork identity was really born and it’s also a really great location in terms of how it connects so many different communities.”

When the ribbon cutting ceremony takes place March 17, the underbelly of the freeway will have undergone a complete transformation celebrating the natural world that surrounds us, including a shimmering rendering of the lunar cycle. The artists say that the project wasn’t erected on an island, but was forged out of a true collaboration between the artists, city stakeholders and, most importantly Borden says, the executives at the California Department of Transportation.

“I love that there’s all this activity above. In the summertime, the market has like 10,000 people, there’s all this activity below and then the mural exists in this kind of quiet space in between,” Christsophel says. “You don’t look at it so much as you move through it and experience it. We decided we wanted to have it be this kind of journey through the seasons that people experience as they walk through because the seasonality of the agriculture, the produce that fills the market every Sunday connecting that to the big picture of these natural cycles that we live in, that was our vision for the space.”

In true dynamic duo fashion, Lacin and Christophel seek to make an impact on the world around them. They thrive in collaborative environments by creating large-scale public art installations that bring life and identity into spaces that would otherwise go unnoticed to inspire a connection between people and their surroundings.

“I love the ability to go into any environment and bring life through color, I’m inspired by that idea and I strive to do that,” Lacin says.

You’ll have multiple opportunities to enjoy the unveiling of Lacin and Christophel’s new mural: A ribbon cutting ceremony on March 17 from 9–10 a.m. (free); from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. on March 19, Bright Underbelly will host a family-friendly affair featuring food trucks, a scavenger hunt and a lecture from Lacin and Christophel (also free); Spring Awakening: An Art and Food Experience will take place on March 20 from 5–9 p.m. and will allow you to dine beneath the mural and sample a limited edition Bright Underbelly beer from New Helvetia. The latter event will also feature live music and a special menu created by Chef Patrick Mulvaney. For more info, go to Brightunderbelly.com

Streets of Color

Pump up those tires and grab a few homies because the annual Submerge Bicycle Mural Tour is back again. This time, we feature pieces so fresh the paint fumes still kick. Some murals stretch across entire alleyways, like the sideshow circus at 23rd and S streets that showcases the incredible tattooed lady and a pair of magnificent gray elephants dressed in red-and-gold garb.

While on the hunt for worthy destinations, this writer discovered that several locations featured in past issues of Submerge received fresh coats of paint. So much, in fact, that a few familiar murals that once hugged the sides of corner stores, like Royal Market on 17th and T streets, have completely transformed and taken on a new identity.

Unfortunately, artistic expression is not always accepted. On April 28, 2015, a multitude of Sacramento artists like Few and Far Women founder Meme, tattoo artist Jenn Ponci, muralist Shaun Burner, and more, saw their $2,000 mural that beautified an otherwise vandalized building on the corner of 28th and U streets, completely erased with gray paint by the city. Submerge shot some of the last photographs of this piece before it was defaced. Although it no longer exists, we wanted our readers to be able to appreciate and support the work of these artists.

Whether a mural was scarred by tags, or simply begged for a new perspective, these walls do talk, and speak to the creative minds of Sacramento artists who answer with cans of paint. So, plan for a leisurely and artistically pedal-driven bike ride through the ins and outs of Midtown and its surrounding areas. Discover the latest, most eye-catching urban street art created by some of the best artists in the city and beyond. More importantly, May is Bike Month, so log some easy miles through the hidden alleyways and bustling streets that lead to more colorful destinations.

Surfside

S.V.Williams, Ernie Upton, Lopan
2505 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento (Target parking lot)

Majestic sea turtles float freely in this oceanic masterpiece filled with crystal castles, colorful coral reefs, tropical fish and sunken ships. This collaborative piece was commissioned by Surfside Dental and showcases the allure and mystery of deep sea life.

Electric Wizard

Cyber Punk
1701 T St, Sacramento.

Submerge featured Royal Market’s original mural three years ago by artist Shaun Burner, but now it seems market owner Haripal Singh caved into another creative mind’s need to paint and, once again, allowed the side of his business to act as a rotating canvas. An old wizard with a wooden staff rides on the back of a green wolf; electricity fills the air around the two as they travel onward to an unknown destination courtesy of local artist Cyber Punk.

Life’s a Ball Enjoy the Circus

Few and Far, various artists
2333 S St., Sacramento (Rice Alley)

Just around the corner from Addison’s Bicycle Repairium (fitting) is the newly coated, circus-themed mural by Few and Far Women, a group of gals who specialize in street art with the help of various artists like Meme, Jenn Ponci, Melissa Uroff Millner and more. See majestic elephants with deep expressions, the incredible tattooed lady, and a golden palm that waits for its fortune to be told.

California Pride

Begr, Kove Sole, Jenn Ponci, Meme, Shaun Burner
28th & U streets, Sacramento (No longer exists)

Despite being hassled by the anti-graffiti authorities, these five artists finally wrapped up the side of a building at 28th and U streets. A frame of golden California poppies surrounded a menacing grizzly bear with its busy magenta, forest green and burnt orange brush strokes. Toward the end of this mural, a cold, blue face struggled to break free from its canvas.

A Level Beyond

Lord Pawn
2419 K St., Sacramento (Jazz Alley)

Behind City Bicycle Works, a starry night sky glows as a robotic wolf growls in the face of a gray and blue bionic woman, her wispy long hair adorned by a single, pink carnation.

Rest In Peace mural for Justin Mayo and Selecta KDK (Kevin Kinnard)

Shaun Burner, Bdank, Ernie Upton
1017 24th St., Sacramento (Jazz Alley)

Justin Mayo snagged a large-mouth bass and proudly shows off his catch of the day sailing away on his small, wooden boat. A healthy forest stretches across a steady flowing river as Selecta KDK scratches on some wax that gives off electricity.

United Passion

BAMR
1330 H St., Sacramento

Behind Chaise Lounge (former Bulls bar), artist BAMR gained broadcast news attention with his mural “United Passion.” A large and lengthy busy-colored sleeve reaches across a gray building, its open palm holds a red and yellow rainbow, and at the center a blue heart splashes with water drops.

Guide yourself through Sacramento’s many murals–with our help, of course

May is Bike Month occurs once a year, encouraging all Sacramentans to forgo gas-guzzlers and hit the streets on two-wheeled transportation. Learn to tune up your ride by attending the free bike clinics at any Mike’s Bikes location or participate in the Capitol Park Neighborhood Bike Ride pedaling over bridges and through trails with friends. But if it’s eye candy you’re after during a leisurely ride with fellow cyclists, Submerge has once again created a list of murals around the Midtown area you can appreciate while on your fixie, cruiser or single-speed. Artists featured this year include Shaun Burner, Alex “Cabron” Forster, Skinner and plenty more. Since last year’s map, a growing number of new murals have added a colorful touch to coffee shops, convenience stores and even a wildlife nonprofit building. Let this guide be your real-life Choose Your Own Adventure, except better, with bicycles and artistic expressions. Just plug these addresses into Google Maps and have at it!

Ishi
Valley Vision building – 2320 Broadway

Cabron
(Start of the tour)

Alex Forster, known as Cabron, won the Valley Vision’s mural contest in 2010, choosing to represent the Sacramento Valley’s past by painting the Native American Ishi of the Yahi tribe on the side of the non-profit building.

“I just wanted to show one iconic figure from that era and how demographics have changed,” says Cabron of the mural. “Ishi’s story was told in all the schools. He was supposedly the last of his tribe and he epitomizes that shift from the old world and the modern world clashing.”

Ishi’s intense eyes watch busy traffic whizzing by the intersection; stare back at Broadway and 24th Street.

A mural of monsters
Javalounge – 2416 16th Street

Skinner

Off the beaten path in the alleyway of the Javalounge coffee shop are a gang of monsters painted by local artist Skinner. His mural of ghouls survived a truck smashing into the art piece a couple years back according to the artist, who plans on touching up the piece before summer.

“I create because it is a function of who I am,” he says. “It’s in everyone. Everyone has an instinct to explore; it just depends on how much you pay attention to that aspect of yourself [and] how much you nurture your path of discovery.”

Skinner is currently at large in Florida doing what he does best.

Time to Wake Up
Royal Market – 1701 T Street

Shaun Burner

Living so close to a blank canvas was too tempting for artist Shaun Burner. Often frequenting Royal Market, Burner bugged owner Haripal Singh for permission to paint the building until he finally gave in.

“The open hand with the light coming out [signifies] letting go and the clenched fist with the dark oozing out is holding on,” explains Burner. “The diamond from the third eye for the crown Chakra and also in western culture, the diamond is revered as such a precious gem when the real gem is the mind.”

Artist and friend Mike Rodriguez also helped with Time to Wake Up, which is still a work in progress according to Burner.

El Tigre
Born Free USA non-profit building – 1122 S Street

Cabron

First Ishi, now El Tigre. Cabron once again brightens up the side of a non-profit building, this time, for Born Free USA near 12th and S streets.

“When I paint, I like to tell stories. When I hear a story, when I read a book, I visualize it,” he says of his art.

Catch the 85-foot-wide, monochromatic tiger during May is Bike Month and be sure to attend the soft opening in celebration of the mural on June 9. This Second Saturday event features DJ Dom Som, indie craft vendors and you can even meet Cabron himself.

Labor of Love
Limon’s Barber Salon – 1423 21st Street

Gabriel Romo and Joshua Silveira

Gabriel Romo is currently painting an exposition in Guadalajara, Mexico, with artists Shaun Burner and Miguel Perez. Romo’s Labor of Love mural rests on the side of an old, wooden shed next to Limon’s Barber Salon.

“That was the first mural I painted outside,” admits Romo. “That piece was inspired by heartbreak. It started out as an ‘emo piece’ about the labor of love, but it was something the owner was not too interested in. I reworked the idea to include the barber, his labor of love and the piece itself was my labor of love to the community.”

Artist Josh Silveira helped complete the mural alongside Romo, who says painting outside has become his new labor of love.

Psychedelic mural painted in 1973
Old Tower Records – 726 K Street

Frank Carson

K Street businesses have come and gone, but one iconic mural still remains. Chipped away in some areas, but still as bright and psychedelic as ever, is rock concert poster artist Frank Carson’s work. The mural was completed in 1973 and resides on the old Tower Records building. Check it out–man.

Sunday Morning in the Mines
Masonic Temple – 1123 J Street

Stephanie Taylor

Inspired by the original art piece that hangs in the Crocker Art Museum by German artist Charles Christian Nahl is Stephanie Taylor’s digital reprint on the side of the Masonic Temple on J Street. Whiz down the busy street, safely of course, and catch a glimpse of the men who appear to be climbing out of frame.

Ancient Futurism
Shine Coffee – 1400 E Street

Shaun Burner
(End of tour)

Slapped on the 14th Street side of Shine coffeehouse is another piece by Shaun Burner. Burner admits to just going with the flow when it came to painting this piece, throwing it up in a couple of hours.

“For me, it is a complete release… If I mess up I just make it into something else, not worrying about the line I just dropped or the one coming up, but the one at hand. For me, this is meditation,” says Burner. “It’s my tai chi. It’s a metaphor for life. Do the best you can with whatever you do. Don’t reflect on the past too much or worry about the future, but be present in this moment that is continually happening, and own that shit.”

Burner’s on-the-spot Ancient Futurisms make another appearance on the front of the Midtown Furniture & More store on E and 16th streets.

Whether you ride low, got a Dyno with black mags, test your guts on a fixie or cruise casual, if you’ve got a bike and love art, we’ve got an afternoon activity with you in mind. In celebration of May Is Bike Month, Submerge rode through Midtown mapping out a mural tour with eight points of interest. It should be noted this is not a comprehensive listing of Midtown murals, as we could send you down J Street or through seedy alleys on a dangerous mission to enjoy art. Our mural tour is a list of staff favorites that can be viewed safely as you happen to cruise past local businesses we frequent. Please ride carefully, stay hydrated and respect Omri Casspi’s handsome face.

A fairly solid launch point to cruise past the history of Sacramento and some psychedelic butterflies of Laserium, then hang a sharp right before Macy’s to pass the parking garage as it transitions into Metamorphosis by Centro de Artistas Chicanos.

T Street / between 6th & 7th streets
Built in 1934, the Amphitheatre rests on the north side of the park and won’t look like much upon pulling up, but pedal around to the stage and bask in the Chicano-centric art by members of the Royal Chicano Air Force. It’s a great place to rest in the grass or on the stage and hydrate if needed.

915 S Street / between 9th & 10th streets
Painted in 2005 by Stephanie Taylor, the mural on the eastern wall of Beer’s depicts the grandfather of California literature Jack London along with several quotes from the author. Explore Sacramento’s history even further by perusing the stacks of local publications, or just stop in to pet Raffle the bookstore’s furball mascot.

1918 16th Street / between T & S streets
Bikes on 16th require self-assured riding, so if you have the chops for it, make a stop at Constantly Growing on 16th between S and T streets. The graffiti burner is well crafted and wraps around the establishment.

16th Street / between Q & R streets
Painted by Anthony Padilla, the Kings mural might be a bit dated given a few trades, but it’s always nice to cruise by either with hope for another year, to catch a glimpse for the last time ever or just to check on Omri Casspi’s face. Be sure to check out the biker friendly schwag and appetizers at Hot Italian across from Fremont Park.

between 167h & 18th streets
The tremendous 200-foot mural painted in 2009 by John Stuart Berger and Dolan Forcier means you are halfway finished, but given its length, taking it all in will slow you down. The good news: Old Soul Coffee Shop rests in the alley to caffeinate for the remaining trek.

Corner of N & 24th streets
Be mindful of pulling up to the American Market mural by Shaun Turner and Dan Osterhoff. The gorgeous woman stoically watching over the corner of 24th and N is liable to cause accidents. Oh, there’s a peacock too.

Bon Air Deli & Market and First Edition Murals
Corner of J & 26th streets
The corner of 26th and J is an active one for artists. Within a stone’s throw of one another is the graffiti mural by Sam Flores on the side of First Edition, formerly Upper Playground, the mural on the northeast corner of Bon Air Deli by Joshua Silveira and Gabriel Romo and University Art supply store should you be inspired to create your own.