Murals take root outside downtown

With the recent interest and excitement in beautifying downtown through wall art, some artists are expanding across the interstate overpass to Old South Baton Rouge and Mid City.

Over the past two weekends, artist Dr. Kevin Harris brought in three graffiti art friends from New York City to put their stamp on the old Habitat Imports building on 14th Street just off Government Street. “They are the graffiti writers who wrote on the trains in New York back in the day,” Harris explains.

The artists, James Top, Part-One and King Bee, tagged the upper wall of the building, putting their signature style on what would become an image of the side of a subway train. Below the train, Harris created a huge tapestry of train trestles and more graffiti art along the walls of a train station. That image was printed in vinyl at local shop MediaDPI and applied to the wall. It’s the first aerosol art and photography mural in Baton Rouge, Harris says.

While working on his portion Aug. 4, James Top (pictured) said a lot of neighborhood residents had peeked in to see their work. “It’s good to know you are part of an art project that will be appreciated by people who wouldn’t otherwise get to see it,” he said.

The finished wall is the inaugural mural for the Museum of Public Art, a fledgling non-profit Harris created to showcase murals and public art by local, national and international artists. The museum is slated to be housed inside the old Habitat Imports building.

Look for more on this mural, the participating artists and the Museum of Public Art in an upcoming issue of 225.