Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Just weeks after a controversy erupted over the painting of a geometric BTX design on the wall of the historic Capitol Theater vacant building by Los Angeles, Calif. artists, another mural is going up at the historical building at the corner of Washington and 11th streets.
Through a press release sent on Sept. 10, the city announced that they would be kicking off an initiative that would include three commissioned murals. The murals are part of the city’s efforts to “recover spaces for artistic expansion” and “promote cultural awareness.”
The first of the three murals was painted by Los Angeles-based Artist and Illustrator Teddy Kelly, stirring mixed reactions among residents who are saying the opportunity should have been presented to a local artist.
In the statement, city officials said that the funds for the Downtown Mural Program were taken from the Musk Foundation donation as per request of the city, according to the press release. They did not say who had selected the artists.
Valley Central reported that Mexican Artist Sophia Castellanos confirmed that she would be the next artist to paint a mural in downtown Brownsville with the help of some local volunteers
A poll on Twitter by Dragtivist Kween Beatrix asking if the first downtown mural “inspired civic pride,” in reference to a quote by Kelly in the press release indicated widespread dissatisfaction with the mural. The overwhelming amount of the 257 users voted “no.”
Through a press release sent on Sept. 10, the city announced that they would be kicking off an initiative that would include three commissioned murals. The murals are part of the city’s efforts to “recover spaces for artistic expansion” and “promote cultural awareness.”
The first of the three murals was painted by Los Angeles-based Artist and Illustrator Teddy Kelly, stirring mixed reactions among residents who are saying the opportunity should have been presented to a local artist.
In the statement, city officials said that the funds for the Downtown Mural Program were taken from the Musk Foundation donation as per request of the city, according to the press release. They did not say who had selected the artists.
Valley Central reported that Mexican Artist Sophia Castellanos confirmed that she would be the next artist to paint a mural in downtown Brownsville with the help of some local volunteers
A poll on Twitter by Dragtivist Kween Beatrix asking if the first downtown mural “inspired civic pride,” in reference to a quote by Kelly in the press release indicated widespread dissatisfaction with the mural. The overwhelming amount of the 257 users voted “no.”
Many feel that the money donated to the city by the Musk Foundation should have stayed in the community and that the art should have better represented the community’s culture.
“If the Elon Musk Foundation donated these funds to the City of Brownsville, there should have been a better effort to make sure these funds were administered with community input and in a more transparent manner,” said Beatrix. “Whatever the cost was, we know that that money should have stayed within our community and could have immensely benefited the many talented artists and culturalists within our city.”
In fact, in a September 8 email correspondence between Alex Meade, a Texas Regional Bank Senior Vice President of Economic Development and Public Finance and former Government and Community Affairs Ramiro Gonzalez and Igor Kurganov, of the Musk Foundation, the bank executive said he had reviewed Gonzalez's mural proposal and said he removed the phrase "encourage local artists." 
The Musk Foundation donated $2 million to the City of Brownsville for downtown renovation – including $77,500 for outside muralists.
Mayor Trey Mendez defended the decision to use outside muralists to paint in the historical district saying that "art" was in the eye of the beholder and that not everyone agrees on what art means.
“Not everyone will like it. But not everyone liked the Musk Mural. Or the bad bunny one. Or the Selena one. All 3 from local artist @popc_ulture. But it’s art."
The new mural has already prompted a response from a local business owner who said efforts to paint her building had met with resistance from the board of the historical district.
"We tried to paint our building and the historical district said we could not touch the exterior because buildings should reflect the historical nature of the downtown area," she said. "And yet they let the muralists do that?"
To read what the local arts community thinks of this click on link: https://truchargv.com/opinion-mural-madness/?fbclid=IwAR1XMcb_ncQ0lbWEM5mL5x9ie4ils2uu2IncZ6Bo6g9vYm2Eoex0IvGZ_oA
2 comments:
The Tranny should have one of these artists teach him how to do his makeup.
Art in Brownsville is a glob of lodo thrown at your face.
We all know that.
👩🦲
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