Artist from all over the world are helping revive Stockton’s downtown area by painting up murals on renovated buildings.
Muralist and street artists are adding a splash of color into central Stockton by creating beautiful works of art on once undesired properties.
Participants range from Stockton natives to international artists.
The artists are being collected in a collaboration effort from the entrepreneurial and real estate developing company TenSpace and the city of Stockton.
The project is one of many to in order to help empower and encourage the creativity of Stockton natives to develop and install local culture as well as preserve the city’s history.
Many efforts are being made to allow such creativity for artists wishing to contribute to this cause.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing what the city is trying to accomplish. Being here in Stockton, in America, it’s crazy to see how many talented artists there are here and they aren’t allowed to express themselves because of the few outlets and opportunities they are being offered.” Said French artist ‘Astro.’ He continued with… “Programs and projects like these are amazing I think. It’s just nice to see that there are places that are trying to empower their people.”
The main aim of the muralist project is to inspire the youth to become more creative and expressive by putting up powerful and interesting pieces of work for them to see and learn about.
Intricate and historical pieces are being put together with a bold fusion of each artist’s personal taste and style.
The buildings are specifically selected by coordinators.
The art pieces are put up on high rise buildings in more heavily trafficked, easily viewable and accessible areas.
Some pieces are experimental while others tend to have a more clear-cut image and entailing message.
“The reason why I chose to go with the image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the tee shirt was because I believe he is a very powerful and historical figure in terms of what he did for fighting for the rights of equality for all people. To this day his legacy and influence can be seen around everywhere. I mean the man has streets named after him as well as a ton of other things. He fought so that our children and our children’s children could be one. And as for the image above of the lady wearing the tee shirt, Ms. Dellafosse was picked by the mayor himself because of all her hard work and contributions to the city and to the youth. I feel that having an important historical figure as well as a proud and contributing native of the city will help people relate and understand more of what this project is meant to do. It’s all about love man. We’re all just trying to figure this world out together and love one another,” said New Orleans artist ‘Bmike.’
All of the murals such as Astro’s and Bmike’s can be found in the downtown area of Stockton as well as many others.
There are also a range of many other smaller buildings in the area that have many local street art pieces.