Brain + Beer = Best friends forever

This adorable little tableau was spotted and submitted by JS on the Capitol City bike path behind Regent Street. I'm not sure everyone would agree with the sentiment represented, but this is very Wisconsin.

Never lost

Mural (in progress still, I think) on the back side of Plan B / behind Cha Cha Beauty Parlor on Willy St.

Another face in the wall

It's almost like the green Zoidberg face thing is trying to mock the red face stencil, but we all know that just comes from being insecure. East side of Madison, on the bike path near intersection of E. Wilson and Dickinson Streets.

Third eye GAH I'M BLIND

Spotted/submitted by TF. There's just...a whole lot going on here. Cats with cleavage = nope nope nope.

Watchers on the bridge

A couple of interesting, nicely done stencils on the bridge crossing the Yahara River at Rutledge.

Building better neighborhoods with art

This press release just arrived in my inbox. I'm super stoked to see projects like this taking off in Madison, and especially being utilized by traditionally under-served neighborhoods and communities. Check it, and help out if you can:

Sustain Dane Paints a Sustainable Future with Darbo-Worthington Neighbors

September 9, Madison, WI – Community Paint Days for smART [sustainability + Madison + art] in Darbo-Worthington.

Fall 2014:
Friday September 12th 4-7PM
Friday September 26th 4-7PM 

Weekly paint days on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3-6PM; Starting 9/16
Salvation Army, 3030 Darbo Dr (Meeting at front of Salvation Army or in Annex)

Neighbors of Darbo-Worthington present Sustain Dane’s smART [sustainability + madison + art]: in partnership with the Madison Mural Program. smART is a major community-based art initiative designed to engage Madison neighborhoods in envisioning a sustainable, just, and healthy future for their own communities.

On July 29th, Sustain Dane, along with neighborhood organizations, brought residents of Madison's Darbo-Worthington neighborhood together around a simple question: what does a healthy, happy neighborhood look like?

We couldn't have anticipated the response. Dozens of community members of all ages, ethnicities, genders and socio-economic backgrounds came out to work together to envision a sustainable neighborhood.

Led by lead artist Sharon Kilfoy of the Madison Mural Program, the neighborhood design team has created a visual representation of the neighborhood's ideas from July 29th.

This week - we're starting to paint this design on panels for a larger-than-life mural. Let's paint our vision of a sustainable future. We invite you to join us and grab a paint brush, cover this important event, or call us to learn more.

Contact: Lauren Beriont, Sustain Dane Lauren@sustaindane.org 608.819.0689
Communtiy Liasons for this important project include but are not limited to: The Salvation Army, Mentoring Positives, WOW (Women of Worthington), The Worthington Park Neighborhood Association and Edgewood College Sustainability Leadership Program. Thank you to Dane Arts, The Madison Arts Commission, and the WI Arts Board for supporting this project in 2014.

About Sustain Dane:  Sustain Dane believes that the Greater Madison Region can become national model for sustainability and sustainability innovation. Sustain Dane works towards this vision by fostering and supporting a rich and diverse community of sustainability champions across many sectors of society. To learn more about our current programs and initiatives, please visit www.sustaindane.org. Sustain Dane is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

LOOK INTO MY EYES

Meep! natch.

I love this artist so much, but seriously, Madison, anyone else wanna step up their game? I feel like Meep is the only one doing anything with any kind of regularity these days.

Ziggy Gets Art

Ziggy the cat is a Willy Street institution, a sort of feline ambassador of the neighborhood. Because of course that 'hood has a resident friendly kitty--especially one that gets his own street art, courtesy of the ever-prolific Meep. Photo from the Ziggy the Cat Facebook page. You can get a t-shirt with his face on it now, too.

Community Mural Love

A much-needed splash of color just got added to the (formerly) big white wall on the side of the Plan B nightclub on Williamson St.

Let the Willy Street Blog tell you all about it. The work was done by Baltimore-based artist Michael Owen, and brought about by lots of community effort:

The Baltimore Love Mural is the second mural to go up on a wall in the neighborhood in as many years as part of the Marquette Neighborhood Association’s (MNA) Murals on Private Property initiative. Michael Owen, who stayed with MNA Arts & Culture Committee Co-Chair Sharon Kilfoy while in town, said he knew he was in the right place when he saw Panmela Castro’s “The Siamese Twins” on Willy Street Co-op East.

Proper gentledogs

Meep again. Paste-up at the corner of Ingersol and Willy. And the inevitable dong graffiti on the gentleman dog, too.

The prettiest monster in the deep ocean

Another piece by one of our most prolific Madison street artists (or collective, I've heard conflicting rumors), Meep! On the side of Mother Fools, natch. Such a pretty, pretty deep sea creature!

The face of the Yahara River bridge

This fella currently stares up at cyclists and pedestrians on the bridge over the Yahara River by O'Keefe.

Girls Rising

Photo by Catherine Capellaro

This is so ridiculously cool:

It looks so awesome, I'd never guess it was painted by a group of sixth graders. 

A bright new mural gracing the graffiti wall at Mother Fool's Coffeehouse on Willy Street pays tribute to the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls and the Bring Back Our Girls movement, and is part of a global awareness campaign in support of girls' right to education. 

Six middle schoolers from O'Keeffe -- Adeline Geary, Skye Lukas, Odessa Chusid, Anabelle Poore, Ruby Sutherlin-Sovern, and Amelia Hoffman -- are involved in a group called Girl Generation (modeled on the Mother-Daughter Project) that has been meeting over the last five years. Over the last year, these moms and daughters have organized community service and fundraising projects while also considering a public art project.

Read the full article at Isthmus.

Two new murals approved for Willy Street

Progress! Super stoked to see these go up:

Two new murals have been approved for the Willy Street corridor on the near east side, adding to the street's already vibrant collection of artwork. 

Michael Owen, a muralist and painter from Baltimore, has been tapped to create a new mural on the side of Plan B at 924 Williamson St. The building is owned by Chuck Chvala, who has donated money toward the project. (Other funds will come from the Madison Community Foundation, Plan B itself and a fundraiser.) 

Owen started the Baltimore Love Project several years ago, in 2008, spelling out the word "LOVE" in sign language on some 20 walls all over the city. 

The murals, according to the project's Facebook page, are "identical in regards to content, only ranging in size." Madison's mural will have the same design. 

On the back of the building, near Cha Cha Beauty & Barber, local artist Craig Grabhorn is designing another mural. Muralist Sharon Kilfoy, who went to the Marquette Neighborhood Association Art and Culture Committee meeting where both were approved, said it may have a "broken heart" or "heart with wings" theme.

Mondrian, street artist

Piet Mondrian on the street, yo. East Wilson Street along the backside of the storage units. Happy spring, artists!

Elsewhere

Street art is often an expression of political and/or social turmoil.
"Across Athens, Graffiti Worth A Thousand Words of Malaise"

What are we talking about in Madison?