Wall of Murals, Part One

The light rail in Seattle passes by a wall of murals. It has always been my favorite part of travelling to and from the airport- looking at all the murals! But racing past on the light rail doesn't give the mind a chance to linger and observe. I walked along the path in between one wall of murals and the railroad track. I was able to see the giant paintings close up! I took lots of pictures.

  I hate when people tag on murals. It is disrespectful and gives a bad name to street art. There are plenty of boring blank walls looking for adornment...no need to blemish beautiful murals! 

 There is a mural near the zoo that was covered up a couple of years ago. Not by graffiti but by graffiti removalists who misinterpreted the sanctioned mural as graffiti hooliganism. It really goes to show that art is in the eye of the beholder. 

  I have helped paint a mural. When I was in high school, I was in a mural painting club. The artist who ran it told his brood of budding muralists to spit in the paint so that we will always be part of the mural. Years later, when I worked at a pizza parlor, I delivered a pizza to the mural artist's studio. He was building huge, moving sculptures. His studio was chaotic and beautiful, full of commotion and artistic sparks. 

  Sometimes I would drive past the mural I worked on and think "There it is! The mural I helped paint!" It was exciting! Even though my contribution was pretty slight and simplistic, it was still exciting. 

  Probably the people who helped paint the murals along this wall of murals feel the same way when they travel the light rail. They probaly sit reading or looking at their phone next to the window, when they see the familiar image out of the corner of their eye. They look up, just in time to see it as they rush by and think "There it is! The mural I helped paint!"