Monday Mural I

 New York, 2008

Many months ago sister blogger at Oakland Daily Photo started posting awesome murals she finds all over her city every Monday. I've been following them with great pleasure. More recently, others have followed suit in posting all kinds of wall art (click here and here on Mondays).

Murals appeal to me on a number of levels. Wall art comes in many forms: it can be a divine fresco in an old church, a fun depiction of a historical story, or even just an attractive way to decorate a commercial establishment. In any event, they bring color and stories into our lives. Like all public art, murals bring art to the people; they are accessible. Unlike graffiti, wall art is invited, it is not an intrusion, a defacement of public or private property. And as with all mediums and levels of art, I definitely like some more than others.

Today's animal glass mosaic mural above is worth enlarging to see the detail. I snapped it walking into the Fifth Avenue subway in New York City a few years ago. It is part of a collection of murals at that station called Urban Oasis created by artist Ann Schaumburger in collaboration with Miotto Mosaics in 1997.

I think the tiled sign for the subway was pretty cool too and will link it with Signs, Signs (on Wednesday).

I don't see enough murals to post one every week, but this is a first of what I hope will be an occasional series.

If you too like wall art, click on the keyword mural on my sidebar to see a few I have posted before and go check out some of the fabulous ones posted by the other photo bloggers. And come check this spot on Mondays.

Or better yet, post your own mural and let us know!