St. Michael's Mural Project 2023
St. Michael's Apartments
4074 Jackson Street
Riverside, CA 92503
www.stmichaelsriverside.com
Park in the Parking lot on the north side, Breeze Way Mural is in the middle of the complex and the Jackson Street mural is at the front of the building
During the month of June of 2022, I was contacted by Art From The Ashes a non profit group in the business of public arts work projects. They advised that a new residential apartment complex, St. Michael's Apartment was in development in Riverside, CA. This is going to be a 51 unit apartment for low income and homeless people. AFTA encouraged me to submit a proposal and my ideas for the mural art, going by their request for proposal a submission was put forward. With no experience in mural art projects, I was awarded the contract and the mural art project.
The awarding of the project was in July of 2022, with an expectation starting date to be mid October of 2022. With a series of construction delays, slow progress and a heavy rainy winter it wasn't until mid march of 2023 that I was given the go ahead to start the work on site at St. Michael's. So on Saturday March 18th the work started to commence.
The first section of this monumental mural project was a section of the building called the Breezeway. The breeze way is a walk way in the middle of the complex that connects the parking lot area on the north side of the building to a large open garden area that connects to the St. Michael's Church. The proposed wall art is on the parking lot side a massive tall 30 ft x 15 ft wall surface. In adjacent to the main wall is a long open corridor that is about 30ft wide and 12 feet high. This section of the complex was my starting point that lasted about 3 to 4 weeks to complete. With no mural experience my approach to laying out all the design work was like working on a massive piece of paper. With all my artwork areas of space whether it be three dimensional forms two dimensional surfaces are divided into even sections, to lay out the shapes, designs and motifs. The construction of the stucco walls were broken up into these joints and these were the reference points or pivot points that I would use to hand paint the designs of the mural.
After completion of the Breezeway section, the main mural on the front side of the building on Jackson street would begin. This section of the building is about 20 feet high and 30 feet wide. 
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The design elements for this section would be more complex and would utilize all the wall space with very little negative space. The Jackson street section proved to be more challenging not in terms of executing the art work but it had a great deal of street noise, congestion and with spring more warm sunny days to contend with exposure to the sun was a constant. Painting on stucco walls was a bit of a challenge, you really had to push the paint into the stucco to get maximum coverage and I think we fleshed this out as we pivoted from the Breezeway section to the Jackson street wall. Spray painting was used a great deal in this portion I made stencils for all the dots and swirls that occupy the back ground, the stencils were positioned on the wall and spay painted. This portion of the mural project took us around mid April to about mid may. It is also here that we became more familiar and developed a rapport with some of the tenants, personal and social workers at St. Michael's so there was always this interaction with these wonderful people on a daily basis.
The St. Michael's mural is one of my first murals, it was a total labor of love, it was hard physical work and long hours, constant commuting from Fullerton to Riverside on a daily basis but it was an amazing experience through and through. The St. Michael's Mural is what I leave behind in California for generations to see and hopefully appreciate and find some inspiration in all the design and art work. The hope is that all the tenants at St. Michael's and the community see the Mural on a daily basis and find some hope, inspiration and appreciation for the arts.
Thanks Joy Feuer at Art From the Ashes for making that initial phone call and giving me this opportunity and having those good instincts by taking a chance with an artist who has never done a mural.....it all worked out. Thank You
Thank You to my long time former co-worker and BFF....Paulina LaBare for helping me, taking the time out of your busy schedule and assisting me in preparing and putting together the proposal which set this whole damn thing into motion. Thanks.......Bubs
A Big Huge Thank You to my wonderful student, colleague, friend and helper......Amy Mclain for coming out and assisting me when you had the opportunity, it was so much fun and appreciated....Thank You Amy.....your the best.
My Father Ray Harrison past away in September of 2021, my Father was an artist and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have had this amazing journey in the Arts.........You would have really really appreciated the Mural Dad........a dedication to my Father Ray Harrison.
For Artist Statement and the explanation of what the designs represent please go to bottom of page for the Artist Statement for each Mural. Thank You
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St. Michael's Artist Statement
Breezeway Mural
Statement
Title: The Harvest Circles
People whether it be in ancient, traditional or modern times are always migrating, moving from one region or place to another. This timeless narrative is represented in the Breezeway Mural with the spiral design or migration circles which symbolizes growth, wisdom and the constant movement of people moving in and out, for brief or long periods of time. With this yearly and daily flow of people the hope is overtime residents and visitors will grow in wisdom, spirituality and peace.
The resident breezeway entrance wall symbolizes the rejuvenation of rain water which the local indigenous Native American people center themselves around from season to season. The traditional Southwestern Pueblo rain cloud design tells the story of the rainy season where the rain clouds bring the nourishing and sustaining water as it falls to earth. The rain falls on the lotus flower motif bringing forth enlightenment, spirituality and beauty. The water rejuvenates the soil of Mother Earth allowing for the growth of planting and harvesting. The row of stalks with petal motifs in the upper and lower breezeway sections represent this grand idea of planting, growing and harvesting which creates this unique interdependence with Mother Earth. The spiritual labor for food and sustenance all come out of the soil, the mountains, the hills, the brown landscape which is represented by the repeating triangular forms a common design shape for local Southern California indigenous people. The proposed garden area once in full bloom will be directly connected with this romantic notion of living in accordance with the rhythms of Mother Earth.
All these ideas and stories within the Breezeway section of the St. Michael's apartment will hopefully repeat themselves over time, month after month, year after year, a cyclical cycle under the spiritual moons of the summer and winter solstice, represented by the black round forms.
A repeating pattern that connects the people, the residents, communities, friends and families to the beauty and comfort of nature…Mother Earth.
Title: The Energy of Mother Earth
The Jackson Street Mural connects to the energy and rejuvenation of Mother Earth and continues the narrative of movement of people and water. The land and the landscape has a unique way of speaking, inspiring and creating.
The energy of the land represented by the black lines gives way to the cyclical year round of beauty in design represented by the otherworldly array of artistic arching patterns and motifs. Each pattern connects to the long-standing traditional art of Southwestern Pueblo people and represents the natural world. The traditional Pueblo cloud design embraces each arching design, with the hope and intention that rain water will always be abundant and will continue to flow from season to season for all at St. Michaels and its surrounding communities.
The surrounding landscape of St. Michaels and Riverside are always surrounded and protected by the lush brown hillsides and mountains. Under the summer and winter solstice moons the brown, sienna, sandstone earth will give way to plants, trees and vegetation providing sustenance and beauty for all those around.
The passage of time like the sacred circle will always represent this energy of people, nature and the cosmos in a constant state of transition and movement. Families, friends, the community will change year in and year out, people will come and people will go, a constant reminder of the movement amongst humanity as old as time and represented with the spiral migration circles.
As Father sun rises out of the east and greets each member of St. Michaels with a brand new day it will set in the west, giving way to our night time sky. The background to the Jackson Street wall is littered with dots all representing the ancestors who have passed on. It is these ancestors that will protect and guide us through our night time hours. The Navajo people of the southwest believe black is the color of protection and the night, which is why black is the chosen color for all the dots and swirls.
Indigenous people near and far all share a common belief that all is sacred in the natural world, Mother Earth is our spiritual source for existence. This spiritual importance is not only applied to all the natural elements but to all living creatures that coexist in our world. Whether it be the bird, the winged creature, a harborer of good tidings and messages or the four legged represented by the nurturing and calming aspect of a dog. Animals, people, nature, energy, water and the cosmos are all represented on the Jackson street mural at St. Michaels in Riverside, California.
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