Midtown Murals Project
In The News
Sacramento Business Journal
June 19, 1998
MARK ANDERSON / STAFF WRITER
Businesses, residents and artists are trying to raise money to
create a series of 27 murals in midtown Sacramento.
The idea is to spruce up midtown and attract more visitors. So
far, they’ve raised only about $700 toward the estimated $3,000 it will cost to paint
the first mural. But they’re organizing a fundraising concert, supporters have
donated paint and equipment, the Sacramento Municipal Arts Commission is helping out, and
they’ve secured tax-exempt status.
Organizers of the Midtown Mural Project have chosen the site for
the first mural: 25th Street, between J and K. The 50-foot by 17-foot wall is owned
by Jim Tanovitz, owner of Art Ellis Supply Inc. on J.
"It’s a huge wall, and most people don’t even
notice it. That’s one reason for doing this," Tanovitz said. It’s a way of
making a statement about art in midtown, and it will give people something nice to look at
and a reason to come here."
Midtown already has a half dozen murals, most of them done for
firms like the Bread Store, the Mother Lode Dive Shop and City Bicycle Works. The
nine-member organization committee has secured owners’ permission to paint murals on
another 17 walls, and it’s eyeing 10 more.
Artists would be invited to submit ideas to the committee, which,
with the wall’s owner, would make the choice.
Dennis McCoy / Sacramento Business Journal
The Bread Store mural on J: Others on the way
Subjects would be limited to architectural,
historical or natural representations, and be open to Sacramento artists only, said Linda
Bloom, administrator for Art in Public Places. That program is run by the Sacramento
Metropolitan Arts Commission, which plans to advertise the project to artists.
"The money is going to be kept local and the murals will
have a local flavor," Bloom said. "Our artists have very limited opportunities
to do such visible works."
The murals would "create an aesthetic and an enhanced image
for midtown," said James Cooper, the mural project’s coordinator and owner of
Seagram Productions. "These are going to be pure art. We want to create images from
Realism to Expressionism tat evoke the past and contemporary issues of midtown."
The organizers have scheduled a fund-raising concert for June 26
at 915 20th St. featuring The Undulations. They hope the $10 admission will bring them
close to the $3.000 they’ll need for the first mural. "A mural of this
size would usually cost $7,000 to $10,000 for a professional muralist. But this is being
done in the spirit of volunteerism," Cooper said.
The subject of the first wall would be a representation of the
old Alhambra Theater. ‘The Alhambra has a lot of meaning for people in midtown.
It’s part of our history," said Tanovitz. "We want to make the walls
a destination in midtown," said Pamela Zweifel, owner of How Tacky, a novelty shop on
J and a committee member. "With the Second Saturday art stroll and the galleries
here, this is center of art. The murals will give our artists some recognition."
The murals will discourage graffiti, she said. "Once
they are painted, the taggers don’t seem to want to paint on them. There is a respect
for the art."
‘There is a lot of community support for this. People think
it is a great idea," said Paul Harriman, a 24-year resident of midtown and a
committee member. "It’s an eclectic neighborhood. There are opportunities here
that just don’t exist in the suburbs because it is residential and retail."