Musicians Union Local 99 mural

Our next Portland mural is the Musicians Union Local 99 mural, on the union's building at NE 20th & Sandy. The RACC description:

This project was designed to bring higher visibility to the artistic community and foster dialogue across boundaries. Within the mural, images of jazz, European, classical, bluegrass, rock ‘n roll, hard rock, hip hop, rhythm and blues, reggae, Asian, Latino, and African influences, provide opportunities for dynamic composition.

This was created in 2006 by artists Isaka Shamsud-Din, Joe Cotter, Hector Hernandez, & Baba Wagué Diakité. Shamsud-Din also created Now is the Time, the Time is Now (which we visited a couple of posts ago), and we looked at Cotter's Buckman Community Mural back in August 2014, as this ongoing project was just getting underway.

Monarca murals

Next up on the mural tour we're visiting Monarca Sunrise and Monarca II, a pair of butterfly murals on SE 49th, just south of Division. The RACC page for the sunrise one explains:

Above the horizon line the mural depicts a bright burst of sunlight against a sky filled with butterflies, and a field awash with sunflowers in perspective, below. The mural provides an attractive transition between an adjacent commercial business also featuring a mural by Hector Hernandez, and residential housing in the area.

The page for the second one continues:

This mural is an extension of the mural “Monarca Sunrise” painted by the same artist on the front of the building. The butterfly pattern that extends through the two murals adds continuity and unity with the next door mural “Urban Wellness,” also by Hernandez, in which the butterfly images continue playing an important role as a symbol of transformation. In this way the use of butterflies in this mural reinforces the metaphor of transformation at the dawn of a new day, and the wellness that such a new day could bring.

(And yes, I already posted about the Urban Wellness mural mentioned in the description.)

Urban Wellness mural

Next stop on our mural tour is the Urban Wellness mural on the eponymous alternative medicine office at SE 49th & Division. The RACC description:

The concept for this mural is based on the idea of wellness and well-being in an urban environment. The composition is rich with symbolic imagery, from the lotus as the achievement of health in an urban context, to the butterflies as a representation of change, to the images of the buildings and Mt. Hood as a sign of strength and a hopeful future. The mural integrates these different elements with the architecture of the building and creates a landscape that flows and connects to the next building featuring a second mural by Hector Hernandez, Butterfly Horizon. The subject matter of this neighboring mural is that of hope, and the Urban Wellness mural the blooming of wellness from that hope.

So yeah. Perhaps you're familiar already with my periodic disclaimer: Writing about someone's mural doesn't mean I'm endorsing the business itself. Even if I like the mural, which I do in this case. I'm not saying I thought you personally were conflating the two things, but somebody might, hence the disclaimer. In this case I'd also like to point you at Respectful Insolence, a blog by a doctor who pokes holes in alternative medicine and related woo. It's a good read. Enjoy!