Kristin Farr Mural
West Coast Barn Quilt
Commissioned by Bedford Gallery and the City of Walnut Creek Public Art Program, West Coast Barn Quilt, a massive 28 by 16-foot mural and major work of public art, features a symmetrical geometric design in the form of a radiating star. It is prominently displayed on the exterior wall of the Lesher Center for the Arts, overlooking the plaza at the intersection of Locust Street and Civic Drive in downtown Walnut Creek. The design interacts with the existing wall (which is perfectly flat) to create a three-dimensional illusion effect that makes the wall look slightly folded or bent by the contrast in color.
About the Artist
Kristin Farr’s paintings are directed by color and influenced by folk art practices. Her brightly colored, often geometric designs create a three-dimensional illusion that is both playful and captivating. Farr’s Magic Hecksagon paintings are a nod to her family’s roots in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art.
Kristin Farr, West Coast Barn Quilt, 2018, acrylic paint on DiBond panels, 28’ x 16’. Images courtesy of Liz Payne and Josh Isaacs.
Duncan Arcade
Duncan Arcade, an outdoor mural gallery located in the City’s downtown core at 1341 North Main Street, is Bedford Gallery and Walnut Creek Public Art Program’s most recently completed project. This pedestrian-only walkway features five dynamic and colorful murals by renowned Bay Area artists. Duncan Arcade is a publicly accessible corridor that links Main Street on the east with Commercial Lane and Locust Street on the west. Murals will rotate periodically, approximately every two years, to refresh the space and give new artists an opportunity to display their work and talents.
About The Artists
Duncan Arcade is curated by Bedford Gallery and the Public Art Program. Artists are chosen through an invitational process and reviewed by a selection panel before they are approved by the Walnut Creek Arts Commission.
Ricky Watts
Ricky Watts is a Sebastopol-based painter, who honed his craft as a young artist through immersion in the street art culture of Northern California. He is best known for his abstract works consisting of organic shapes, gradient color palettes, and fluid movement.
Ricky Watts, Walnut Creek Rollercoaster, 2020, paint on drywall, 9’1” x 17’ 8”.
Cannon Dill
Cannon Dill is a Bay Area artist whose illustrative work features bold symbols and creatures with a rough-around-the-edges, painterly style. Dill’s work often features animals accompanied by folkloric shapes and themes that showcase their power. His bold subject matter is complemented by a color palette that juxtaposes muted tones with evocative yellows and reds.
For his Duncan Arcade mural, Dill painted a stylized wolf, energizing the alleyway.
Cannon Dill, Wolf, 2020, paint on drywall, 9’1” x 17’8”.
Casey Gray
Casey Gray is a San Francisco painter, sculptor, and muralist. His work is characterized by his exclusive use of aerosol paints and laborious hand-cut masking techniques that result in paintings so crisp they appear digitally made. In fact, Gray’s fascination lies in the space between reality and virtual experience, a realm that is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate. In his Duncan Arcade mural, Gray features a graphic representation of life returning to the area as the City reopens following the Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders.
Casey Gray, Hands Free, 2020, paint on drywall, 9’1” x 17’8”.
Sirron Norris
Sirron Norris is an acclaimed San Francisco illustrator, muralist, and arts educator. Norris is best known for painting loveable cartoons and their antics. His signature character is a friendly blue bear who proudly stands for a variety of social justice issues. In his Duncan Arcade mural, Norris showcases a Walnut Creek landscape bursting with action and references the City’s most beloved public art installations.
Sirron Norris, Cartoon Creek, 2020, paint on drywall, 9’1” x 18’4”.
Velia De Iuliis
Velia De Iuliis is an LA and Bay Area painter whose oil paintings depict flora and fauna on the brink of extinction. Her lush still lifes, painted with exquisite detail and vivid color, are a beauty to behold. De Iuliis’ work draws the viewer in, allowing them to refocus their attention on threatened species that may soon disappear forever. Thus, the artist considers her stunning paintings a call to action and a record of soon-to-be natural artifacts.
Velia De Iuliis, Floral Bounty, 2020, paint on drywall, 9’ x 13’ 9”.
Rebound Murals
Walnut Creek's Public Art Program and the City of Walnut Creek established the Rebound Temporary Art Program to invigorate the Downtown area with artwork and bring the community together as the city bounces back from the COVID pandemic. So far, this program includes work by Local Edition Creative's David "Hyde" Cho and Ally McKay.
About The Artists:
David “Hyde” Cho
David “Hyde” Cho’s mural Jiko-jitsugen, located outside Cheap Pete's at 1666 Locust at the corner of Civic, is based on the five elements of philosophy in Japanese Buddhism. Cho is a Korean American artist born in Japan. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of San Francisco and has 18 years of mural painting experience, including many notable works throughout the Bay Area. He was one of the original artists that started the street-art boom in San Francisco’s Mission District in 2004. His best-known mural in the Mission is a tribute to Carlos Santana done in collaboration with artist Mel Waters. Cho has used the street-artist pseudonym “Hyde” for many of his murals.
David “Hyde” Cho of Local Edition Creative, Jiko-jitsugen, 2020, aerosol. Photo courtesy of Local Edition Creative.
Ally McKay
18-year-old artist and Walnut Creek native Ally McKay is the painter behind the 60-foot long piece titled Better Days mural at 1432 North Main Street in the heart of downtown. This uplifting mural showcases the flora, fauna, and creatures of Mt. Diablo State Park.
Ally McKay, Better Days, 2020, acrylic paint, 60’.
MCXT
About MCXT Artists
MCXT is a creative partnership between Monica Canilao and Xara Thustra. A collaborative effort birthed out of a joint wish to communicate care and empowerment within public spaces. To place special emphasis on putting the most vulnerable people in society first. Together the artists share a deep need to make a bright, vibrant world using the tools of art and activism. MCXT goes big in scale, in heart, and in vision. They create moments to think and reflect on what things might look like if every human were to practice care for others. A reminder that what’s here is enough and vast, it’s simple and infinite. MCXT wakes the sleepy-eyed passerby to gaze into an altered state, refocus and incite joy.
This vibrant mural was painted in the artists' signature style with brilliant colors and a rich mix of narrative and abstract shapes. To create the mural, the artists hand-mixed 90 custom colors over the course of two days. The resulting viewing experience is similar to looking into a kaleidoscope.
Emerging from the backdrop are a family of animals including a deer, a group of singing birds, and an owl. All of these Walnut Creek native creatures were placed in the mural as a reminder to viewers of their connection to their ecosystem. Monica Canilao and Xara Thustra explain:
We would hope that 'we will all be well'… but that is on us to decide. In our ecosystem the health and prosperity of one thing affects the other... when one thrives all thrive, when we hurt the environment all creatures feel the effects. We animals, humans, plants and nature are all connected and this image is a reminder of that deep bond. Same molecules and same future… we all came from stardust and will return to stardust and it is what we do with our time that matters.
MCXT, We Well All Be, 2019, Nova Color acrylic mural paint, 7’6” x 34’10”. Courtesy of Kelly Wu.