Best Place to People Watch: Houston Murals
It’s fun to guess what a clump of art lovers might be thinking about a certain painting or sculpture at the Louvre, the Met or Houston’s own Museum of Fine Arts. You might not approach an observer to pick their brain about Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column or get their take on The Old Guitarist and that’s precisely what makes Houston’s collection of murals a fascinating people-watch.
According to the excellent resource Houston Mural Map, the city boasts about 750 murals from local and international artists, works that celebrate the city and reflect on broader matters like social justice and environmental issues. It’s fun to see which of those cause passersby to go from earnest exercisers to open-air art gallery patrons. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram, we know what those observers think about the art, too.
Check out the Downtown Houston page on Instagram, for instance, which recently has been featuring select murals. Of King of the Road – a popular downtown mural depicting a young man on a bike – one commenter suggested its theme is independence. Healthy Again, a painting of a young girl and an old man on opposite ends of a seesaw, elicited from one commenter, “I pray every day to be in good shape so that hopefully if I’m blessed with grandbabies I can play with them.” Legacy tugged the Buddhist notion of being a light unto one’s self from one observer, though its creators were going for themes of planet sustainability and respect for indigenous cultures. That’s the beauty of art, we all have different viewpoints, and Houston’s murals allow us to learn more about the views of our neighbors.
Located across Houston
houstonmuralmap.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
