Since ancient times, walls have been adorned with the vibrant and disruptive style of folk art known as graffiti. In the 1960s, gangs began to spray paint names and messages on buildings as forms of dissent, aggression or recreation, and modern graffiti was born. As it has become more popular and accepted, graffiti has appeared on garments, commercials, music albums, computer fonts, public art murals and other items. Rappers such as Bun B, Slim Thug and others have highlighted local graffiti artists and featured their work in music videos and album covers, contributing to Houston's burgeoning hip-hop culture.
More than 1,000 works of outdoor art have been installed in Houston, according to Emily Ding, a Chinese-American artist born and raised in Houston. The city's street art and street art community reflect its diversity, with people from different backgrounds and ethnicities. The largest public art painting in Houston is a 10,000-square-foot mural created by Sebastien Boileau at the intersection of Fannin and Tuam in Midtown. Dragon76 produced an eclectic 13,000 square foot mural illustrating social problems such as hunger and homelessness on the side of a hotel.
It is one of six paintings in the world aimed at increasing support for efforts to end hunger in all its forms. An art exhibition recently shed light on the difficulties of being poor and the dream of never running out of food again. The largest street art mural in Houston is located at 710 Crawford St., according to the Houston Wall Map. It spans five floors and 13,000 square feet.
According to a statement from the office of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, more than 738,000 people in Harris County were thought to be vulnerable to food insecurity before the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and the winter disaster in February have made it even more difficult to fight against starvation. The Bigger Change project is a collaboration between an inner-city economic development organization, a global non-profit arts organization, an energy company, and a Harris County commissioner. The last piece created by Spanish muralist Goce was presented on Friday in downtown Houston and covers one side of the Republic building at 1018 Preston Street. It represents a Mexican mother with birds flying around her and cosmic images on her dress.
She holds a bright orange clay pot with steam coming out of her mouth which may indicate that it is filled with a powerful healing elixir. The Goce mural is one of nine larger-than-real life works that will be presented in the city center this fall as part of Big Art. The Bigger Change Project was funded in part by TotalEnergies, a global company with an office in Houston, and conceived by Harris County District 1 commissioner Rodney Ellis who represents the city center. The non-linear collection of murals in commercial buildings covers more than 1 mile from the city center and was created to promote sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Each mural is accompanied by a plaque with a QR code linked to Street Art for Mankind's free Behind the Wall app which explains each piece and provides connections to local service organizations. The president and CEO of downtown Houston Kris Larson said that additional murals may be added next year. People from all over the world visit these graffiti murals to take pictures and share them on social networks.
However, just a few days after its completion, 11th district councilman James Balcer called Graffiti Blasters to paint it over. The festival is produced by UP Art Studio, a public art consultant and facilitator who has played a fundamental role in creating hundreds of murals and art installations in Harris County.
