Many of downtown Raleigh’s run-down or abandoned buildings have gone from eyesores to eye-catching, covered with colorful works of art.
This summer, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance launched ARTivation, a temporary public art display where seven local artists were selected to liven up downtown’s vacant storefronts. The program, supported by Artspace and Artsplosure, gives the artists an opportunity to showcase their work while giving city-goers something beautiful to look at as they’re strolling about downtown.
“It can be uncomfortable to walk past a vacant storefront,” says David Moore, the placemaking and activations manager for the DRA. “This is a great way for us to tackle that.”
DRA matched selected artists with seven different storefronts for them to decorate with temporary paintings, vinyl images and more. The DRA partnered with two property owners who Moore says were “super easy to work with and understanding of why public art matters.”
Artist Shakira Shipman paints “Stifled” as part of ARTivation
From about 50 submissions, the DRA selected artwork that would best interact with the buildings they had available for the project. The works line South Wilmington and Martin Streets, chosen because they’re both busy retail locations with lots of pedestrian traffic.
“[The artwork] helps to bridge the gap between spaces that already have a lot of activity,” says Cameron Laws, Artsplosure’s marketing director.
Artist Kalee Calhoun’s “Blue Daydreamers” adorns the side of Beasley’s, a treat for those headed out to lunch or for coffee or on their way to Union Station, while Susan Skrzycki’s “Books” showcases titles from authors that have made an impact on her. Skrzycki also included a mini library for passersby to grab a book from.
“It doesn’t have to be a large-scale mural to have an effect,” Moore says. “Small-scale art can have a huge impact.”
And, so far, it has. People walking or driving around Nash Square stop to enjoy Britt Flood’s “Wild(flower) About You” mural on Martin Street, part of what Laws calls “a street gallery.”
Along with beauty to residents and visitors, ARTivation brings exposure to local artists—it has already helped some of them land new gigs—and those that support them, including local art supply stores where they buy their materials and signage shops they use to print their designs. As a bonus, it gives us plenty of opportunities to capture color for our Instagram feeds. Collect all the art before it’s gone!
ARTivation will be on display until September. Visit downtownraleigh.org to view a map of the installations.
If you think colored pencils are just for kids, think again. Raleigh-based artist Jaimon Caceres uses them to create magical landscapes and lifelike portraits that look similar to oil paintings.
Raised on a small farm in Burnsville, NC, Caceres grew up without television and internet, encouraging him to take in the natural beauty of the world around him. During the warmer months, Caceres adventured through fields, forests and creeks surrounding his home and in the wintertime, he’d draw what he encountered.
Though he drew constantly as a child, Caceres studied interior design at the Art Institute, thinking it would be a more financially stable career path. Then, two years ago, he decided he didn’t want to go another day without following his dream of becoming an artist, so he started a business creating colored pencil art.
“I was having visions of myself as an older man, totally miserable in a job I hated, wishing I had pursued my art and I needed to do something about it,” Caceres says.
While colored pencil is one of the hardest mediums to use, Caceres says he chose it because he loves a challenge. “I need the pressure of a challenge to perform really well. There is a very small margin for error with colored pencil, so I have to be hyper focused while I am working.”
Caceres says that while making colored pencil art is demanding, his process is fairly traditional. He starts by looking at a reference photo and sketches the image onto heavy cotton paper with graphite drawing pencils. Then, he layers on the colors, starting with black and finishing with white. It’s the white, he says, that helps blend the colors and achieve that smooth, oil-painting look.
“I love the finished result of colored pencil art,” Caceres says. “It makes me so proud when people tell me they can’t believe a piece was done in pencil.”
Since transitioning to working as a professional artist, Caceres has completed two series of drawings, one of Paris cityscapes and the other, a study of ballet dancers. As a former ballet dancer himself, he sees similarities between colored pencil art and classical ballet; both require a specific skill set that demands hard work and patience, as well as practice and constant attention to improving technique.
“Also, both are definitely going to give you blisters and calluses; not my favorite part of either discipline,” Caceres jokes.
As for future series, Caceres constantly seeks inspiration and new things to try. One of the most important aspects of his art, he says, is capturing beauty.
“In all the work that I create, I am interested in recreating moments in life that are so beautiful and intriguing, they force me to stop and take them in.”
April showers bring May flowers but, in Raleigh, they also bring bright, colorful storm drains.
This month, local artist Sarahlaine Calva, in a partnership with the city’s stormwater management division, will complete her fifth installation in a series of vibrant designs on stormwater grates and surrounding sidewalk in locations across Raleigh. You may have seen art on stormwater drains in Nash Square Park, Peterson Street and at the corner of Sutton and Smallwood Drive near Cameron Village that Calva has already completed. Two more are slated for drains on North Hills Drive and Lenoir Street at Chavis Way.
The purpose of the project, explains Kristin Freeman, a communications analyst in the city’s engineering services department, is to turn residents’ attention to keeping trash, pet waste, paint, grease, yard waste and other pollution out of storm drains; water that runs into the drains eventually flows into local waterways, including Raleigh’s major lakes as well as Walnut Creek and Crabtree Creek which, in turn, flow into the Neuse River.
“All of this is to bring awareness in a fun way,” Freeman says. “Normally, you don’t notice a storm drain, so we wanted to do something that’s vibrant and colorful to bring attention.”
Calva, a Raleigh native and self-taught freelance artist, uses Sherwin-Williams porch and floor enamel to paint her colorful fish, flowers, sunshine and raindrops. The 20-year-old artist was selected after responding to a request for design proposals from the stormwater division, which will pay her for her work. Before Calva paints, city workers pressure wash the sidewalks and dismantle the storm drain grates. They deliver the grates to Calva, who primes them and paints a base design before the grates are reinstalled and Calva can paint the surrounding sidewalk.
“I tried to incorporate my style into each, to make sure it’s related to water in some way, and the environment, and came up with a bunch of sketches,” Calva says of her process. “I really like vibrant colors and using lines and geometric and linear shapes and evoking a cheerful feeling when you look at my art. I’ve gotten a lot of appreciation from the community. People are like, ‘Oh, thank you for doing this.’”
And the colorful storm drains aren’t the only artsy installations to look for this spring.
You’ve likely seen artist Graymon Ward’s giant slice of pepperoni pizza on the pedestrian median where Wilmington, Salisbury and Peace streets intersect, or Leah Preiss’s tiny trash monsters protesting litter at the trash and recycling bins on W. Morgan Street, or Buffy Taylor’s colorful, happy lady in “Go with the Flow” at the corner of W. Lenoir and W. Cabarrus.
These sidewalk murals comprise Raleigh ArtBeats, a collaboration between the city’s public arts office and the transportation department, with support from Artspace and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. By the end of June, a total of 15 artists’ murals will pop up within the 110 blocks of the downtown municipal services district. The murals range from the large—Chika Gujarathi’s colorful “Maze” in Nash Square or the aforementioned pizza—to the tiny—Preiss’s “Litter Critters,” Helen Seebold’s quilt blocks on Wilmington Street or Megan O’Connor’s “Flora and Fauna of Raleigh” at the corner of S. Person Street and New Bern Avenue. Like Calva, all 15 Raleigh ArtBeats artists were given free rein to come up with their designs and will be compensated for their work.
“It’s been exciting for artists who don’t normally get opportunities to do this,” says Kelly McChesney, the city’s public art director. “They’re taking each public art piece to really make it their own.”
Raleigh ArtBeats has been so successful that the American Planning Association recently named it one of the top 12 creative placemaking projects in the country. And there are plans to keep it alive for the foreseeable future, says Jen Baker, the downtown coordinator for the city’s transportation department; next year, artists will wrap city signal cabinets with vinyl.
The city’s goal, say Baker and McChesney, is to put a toolkit in place for artists to create in public- or city-owned spaces, no matter their vision.
“It has been great to see these artists just take it and run with whatever their vision was for these spaces,” Baker says. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Check out raleighnc.gov for links to maps with the locations of Raleigh ArtBeats and storm drain murals. Look for Calva’s storm drain artwork with the hashtag #raleighstormwater. Check out the city’s website for RFPs for projects seeking artists or to book an outreach specialist knowledgable about stormwater runoff for any school, community or business event.
A yellow and orange cat has fun with leaves and trees. A blue and purple penguin with a green smile is flying because it cannot wait to get home. A tiger is happy because it feels orange.
The animals are King Godwin’s friends, creations that come alive in bright acrylic paint, dabbled over in tiny numbers—often ones and sevens—if you look closely, because, in the Raleigh artist’s mind, numbers and colors correlate with feelings.
This month, “The Artist Is Having a Very Good Day,” a book celebrating Godwin’s paintings, will make its official debut in Raleigh. Artist Susan Woodson, a friend of Godwin and his mother, Yuko Taylor, a painter, wanted to capture Godwin’s work, and his story, in print. Woodson plans to promote the book with an eye toward catching a publisher’s attention for wider distribution.
In the light-filled ground floor of her studio, Moondog Fine Arts, on W. Morgan Street, Woodson recalls watching Godwin, who is autistic, grow into a confident, happy young person the more time he spent painting and creating.
“The more he painted, the better it got. The more he worked, the more he sold, the prouder he got,” Woodson says. “King started developing as a person and his personality came out and now, he stands tall and is very proud of his work. It has been amazing to watch that development.”
It was a transformation Woodson felt she had to capture in print.
Godwin, 27, came to painting nearly a decade ago when Taylor told him he had to find a job. He could stock shelves at the grocery store, or sort books in the library, but his mother made it clear that he had to find a useful way to fill his time. So, Godwin said, like her, he wanted to paint. They sought out art collections at museums and bookstores, hoping to land upon a style.
Godwin pointed to a painting of a pink background, filled with yellow circles.
“Oh, you want to do that?” Taylor asked him. Godwin said he did. Taylor gave him her paints, and a space in her own studio at home, and let him at it.
Today, Godwin, who also has studio space at Moondog, is a prolific painter. His process is meticulous and he labors over every number until each painting feels complete. His work is for sale both at the studio and online and Taylor believes painting, working as an artist, brings her son much happiness.
“These animals and lovely friends he paints are himself, I personally think,” Taylor says. “It’s him in his life. It’s inspiring. As a mom, I was told he had some kind of limitation, or lots of limitations. But my goal was to have him grow up as a person who already has everything he needed and to express himself. I told him, ‘Be proud of who you are, unique is good, it’s the essence of your life.’”
“Every parent wants their child to grow up to be happy and successful and that is exactly how King is,” Woodson says. “He’s happy with his life and what he’s doing with it. That’s a blessing for any parent, autistic or whatever. It’s what you always hope for for your child.”
“King Noboyushi Godwin: The Artist is Having a Very Good Day” debuts May 8 at the Gregg Museum from 6—8 p.m. The book launch is open to the public and you can check out Godwin’s work online at kinggodwin.com.
As it does every year in early December, Raleigh’s Boylan Heights neighborhood will transform into a bustling, sprawling artists’ showcase. More than 100 local artists and craftspeople will sell their wares on porches and sidewalks, and in front yards during the 26th Annual Boylan Heights ArtWalk, an all-volunteer event that has become a neighborhood tradition.
“One of the key elements of the event is homeowners willing to open their homes and lawns to artists,” says Lyman Collins, the Boylan Heights ArtWalk chair. “It’s known for having an eclectic and high-quality feel. There are artists who live in the neighborhood as well, so it’s a nice mix.”
For some homeowners and artists, their pairing is more than a onetime event.
“I moved into this neighborhood in 1988, and about that same time, someone gave me a piece of Nancy Redman pottery as a gift,” says Cheryl Proctor, who later asked to be paired with Redman for the ArtWalk because she loved her work. “My house is full of Nancy Redman pottery and I admire her a great deal.”
Their pairing has lasted almost 20 years and has since developed into a close friendship. Proctor even invites Redman and her daughter, Kathleen, whom Redman says was “raised in clay,” into her home for dinner every year after the event ends.
Redman is usually the only artist Proctor hosts, setting up her work on her front porch and driveway. For Proctor, she doesn’t even need a phone call from Redman to know that she’s going to show up.
“It’s sort of a given that we’re going to do this,” says Proctor. “It’s part of the fabric of our neighborhood. It is such a part of the community of Boylan Heights, and of Raleigh itself.”
Redman, whose interest in clay began in 1965, loves the ambiance of the Boylan Heights neighborhood, the festive nature of the day, and the laid back vibe of only selling for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
“It’s close to home, it’s only a half day, and it takes place before Christmas,” says Redman. “It’s not like setting up for a three day event.”
This year’s event has generated the highest number of applications since the ArtWalk began, transforming the task of placing the participating artists into a sort of puzzle.
“We look at the kind of space the homeowners have, such as a porch or yard, and match the artists,” says Collins. “If the artist has been at a particular location before, it’s easiest to match them. Some homeowners are incredibly gracious and go out of their way to make the artists feel welcome.”
Approximately 40 houses in the neighborhood will host artists this year, including Montfort Hall, the 1858 mansion that sits at the peak of Boylan Heights. A young couple, who want to turn it into a boutique hotel, recently purchased Montfort Hall for $1.1 million. Six artists will exhibit their works on its grounds.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling how much the event has grown,” says Redman, who has developed a following of art lovers who come every year to see her. “It advertises the neighborhood in a nice way and allows people to appreciate the historic area. It’s a lot of fun and I think people really celebrate.”
Check out the 26th Annual Boylan Heights ArtWalk on December 2 from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
