After sourcing our first lot of marvellous murals, we decided to collect five more, each with a distinctive style and message.
1. Villa Harvey Mandel
Called Neighbors Helping Neighbors: A Tribute to Donors, Volunteers & Staff, this mosaic on the west-facing wall of Villa Harvey Mandel stands 72 feet tall and stretches 42 feet from side to side. Creating the vibrant, spirited imagery is stained glass mounted onto 3 by 5 foot slabs. 226 individual slabs make up the mural, with its total weight coming in at over 6.75 tons.
2. River Bend by Clare Woods
Unveiled in 2019, this 11 panel Dallas mural by Clare Woods depicts river scenes with inky, watercolour effects. Made in collaboration with Craven Dunnill Jackfield, each individual panel started life as a painting which was then transformed into bespoke tiles. Each panel is made up of 209 tiles, beautifully pigmented and fabulously realised.
3. London in the 16th Century by Philippa Threlfall
Creating historical murals for well over 50 years, Philippa Threlfall is certainly one of the greats. Unfortunately many of these wonderful pieces of art have long been destroyed or removed from their intended home, or thankfully rescued and now residing at Black Dog. Some, like the one we are celebrating here, are simply in storage, waiting for somewhere now to live. Originally completed in 1972, London in the 16th Century is based on a famous 16th century map of London by Ralph Aggas, with an accompanying descriptive mural placard.
4. City Tree by Adam Cvijanovic
At the District 19 S.T.E.M. Academies on Atlantic Avenue in the Brownsville neighbourhood of Brooklyn lives City Tree -a mural inspired by the 1943 book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Blending the buildings and architecture of the local area with the life-filled leaves of the tree, City Tree creates a changing space, rich with imagination.
5. Farnhurst Memorial by The Creative Vision Factory
Created to respect and remember those buried at the Delaware State Hospital, formerly identified only by numbered granite cubes, this new memorial names the deceased with a tiled tribute opposite their grave sites.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, December 2021.
