Murals and Sculptures at the Waterfront
Two corridors intersect at my marina. One is a high-end waterfront boulevard with luxury condominiums and the other is more of an office and commercial avenue. Both are central to my daily life and very different in their atmosphere. The distinctions are reflected in culture, economic divide, and art works.
Recently one of my boating neighbors commissioned a muralist to paint the water side of his 70-foot houseboat. The painting reflects the owner and recent boom in murals along the commercial corridor. Now this boom extends into the water. I am partial to both graffiti and large-scale wall art for colorful and creative expressions of unheralded, wannabe artists — aside from the much fussed over Binky.
The commercial corridor with its recent mural art explosion in parking lots, alleys, and store fronts embraces a wide-ranging culture from a homeless park, to liquor stores, banks, delis, cigar shops, sports bars, thrift shops, craft center, art suppliers, rooming houses, food marts, and vaping bars. The people, except for the 8 to 5 business types in ties, heels, and suits, are casually dressed, often in thrift shop fashions.
The waterfront boulevard with its luxury condominiums has no street art but makes up for it with expensive sculptures and architectural touches. This is part of a city initiative providing ground-level public art in conjunction with permits to construct high-rise structures. The sculptures run into the hundreds of thousand dollars compared to the less than one thousand dollar murals. The strollers in this luxury corridor are well-dressed “haves” often speaking in foreign languages. Store fronts feature high-end restaurants, jewelry shops, art galleries, a spice shop, real estate sales, wine tasting, roof-top bars, clothing boutiques, and a 4-star hotel.
It is an endlessly fascinating and enlightening waterfront. It speaks well for the tolerance and diversity of a melting-pot America. The best part is that it is literally a stone’s throw from my marina.
