midtown
what’s inside 2
PAPER
in & about list of happenings in midtown
A PUBLICATION OF MIDTOWN MANAGEMENT DISTRICT • houstonmidtown.com
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mark your calendar midtown meetings and events
all in a dog’s life canine freestyle dancing... climate controlled art art protected by mother nature
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midtown improvements
made in america the tinderbox in midtown
who do i call
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eatsdrinks • potbelly sandwich shop
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the good life midtown bar & kitchen
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Susannah Mira, Installation (Component 2)
arts calendar a list of midtown art events
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skills and strengths... helping hands in midtown
lookinside
midtownmap
Definitions with midtown meanings...
pumper
a fire truck that carries hoses and a water tank. Check out the 1937 Chevrolet Pumper at the Houston Fire Museum, 2403 Milam.
fire station
a place where fire engines are kept and firemen stay when on duty. Midtown’s HFD Fire Station #7 (1402 Elgin at Austin) began near downtown in 1878.
blaze
a brilliant mass or burst of flame. Buffalo Wild Wings’ (510 Gray) hottest sauce, Blazin®, draws painfully similar comparisons.
2nd qtr 2013
Midtown Mural the midtown mural at art in the park
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n previous stories you read about how Midtown applied for and received a Cultural Arts and Entertainment District designation. You read about how and why the annual Midtown Art in the Park was moved from city-owned Baldwin Park to the site of the future Midtown-owned Superblock Park. The story you haven’t read until now is the “how” and “why” of the Midtown Mural. I knew Eyeful Art Murals and Designs’ Sebastien Boileau was going to be a part of Art in the Park but I didn’t realize how big a part of our collective history he and the creative team, Alex “Zu” Arzu and Parisian artist Serty KCA would become until we visited the festival site. Walking through, I was explaining the details for the annual art festival, how many artists we were hoping for, where the stage would be, how many Art Cars would be on-site, the music lineup and more. In my naiveté, I thought we would bring back the Graffiti Art Walls as part of the event. We’d had them at prior art festivals, Block Party and Best Fest. Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau, Alex “Zu” Arzu and Serty KCA Sebastien asked why I would bring back 80 sq. ft. of wall space when we had a 4,000 sq. ft. canvas begging to be used. Creating an urban destination is what Midtown is about and a full -scale mural accomplishes just that. The mural gives us the place to keep coming back to for events while at the same time, bonds us with the site and the growing anticipation of the new Superblock Park. It is a way to honor what this community has become — a Cultural Arts and Entertainment District — but also holds true to our roots. What is more urban than an abstract mural? The mural would take planning, timing and an artistic vision to see the project to the end. Coordinating the ordering of 275 cans of spray paint, 70 gallons of wall paint, boom lifts, supplies, building new painting tools large enough for the wall and praying for good weather was no easy task, but it all happened fairly seamlessly, in
then&now ...that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree, wrote poet Joyce Kilmer.
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I Think...
n 2006, Midtown Management District approved the planting of 25, 15-gallon live oak trees in the public right of way as part of their Tree Maintenance program. The trees were planted, staked, watered and mulched by the Midtown Field Services. Seven Live Oak planted in 2006 to enhance Midtown years later, the District’s Services and Maintenance Program continues through record winds, floods and drought.
By Cynthia Alvarado, Managing Director MMD
just two weeks with minor hiccups. The creative team definitely had their share including a series of miscues regarding the delivery of the indoor boom lifts vs. the rugged, outdoor variety more suitable to the terrain near the wall space. A very rainy Wednesday three days before the festival brought outdoor work to a complete halt and a festival producer telling coordinators, “I don’t care what it takes to get the water off the site. Figure out a way to make it happen. We go on Saturday!” Rain or not, preparing for the final push continued behind the scenes. When the Eyeful Art Team presented the general rendering of the mural, some were not moved. The rendering was the basic outline of color of an abstract version of the Midtown logo. Okay, we see the logo and it is much improved over a blank wall but where’s the life of the mural? The art team explained that there would be more to the mural, explaining much like the nuances of a beautiful painting — you often can’t imagine Photos: Ama Photography by Aisha Khan its beauty until you see it and fully understand. For all the planning and thinking about the project, I am sure the life of the mural didn’t happen until that day, at the very moment when the artists’ hands were on the wall. The in between blank spaces of color are where the core life movement of the mural takes place — the pops of color, swirls, lines, splatters of dripping, oozing color. Paint applied with splashes from a bucket, a swoosh from a paint brush, industrial brooms, spray paint and even painting tools that the team built specifically for this project. Love you, the only figurative part of the mural, is an important component that means something deeply personal to each of us who had the great fortune to work on the historic project. It is also a re-enforcing statement for the community, the city and each continued on page 4
The six-man Field Services Team, complete with their neon green vests, continue to enhance the district’s pedestrian areas and image each week, Monday through Friday, by planting and providing well-maintained public spaces and rights of way. The public is welcome to attend the monthly Services and Maintenance Committee meeting and learn more about the ongoing Enhancement of public areas continues in 2013 district-wide maintenance and how to get involved. Check www.houstonmidtown. com for varying times and dates.