We want to wish everyone a happy 2018! We've been a bit off the radar trying to reboot and plan for the future. We look forward to continuing the rebuild of E7S at our new space (which we plan to announce soon!)
2017 went by quickly and we are honored to have worked with so many talented artist to create commissioned work and added over 20 new murals to San Jose!
Post POW! WOW! San Jose, we didn't blog much but wanted to make sure we included the last 4 murals we did. Thank you for your continued support and keep following us on social media as we venture into 2018!
BUNNIE REISS for the Federal Building in Downtown San Jose
Bunnie's work is heavily influenced by her Eastern European background, with its tradition of folk art, bright colors and community engagement. Her brightly colored folk murals decorate many countries and can be found all over the world such as Los Angeles, Mexico, Italy, Paris, India, Philippines, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, San Francisco and now San Jose!
Thank you SJ Downtown Association for making this happen!
Two new murals for the Children's Discover Museum by Jaque Fragua and El Mac
We were approached to create a new mural for the Children's Discovery Museum's (CDM) portico and thought artist Jaque Fragua was a perfect fit. While we were working on the details for this, the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA) reached out to us to help find a ideal wall for El Mac as he was planning to paint a new mural in San Jose in conjunction with The Propeller Group exhibit opening at the SJMA.
E7S strives to help community building and bring together organizations to collaborate on a larger vision for our City. It was serendipitous when we brought together Jaque Fragua and El Mac since not only are they old buddies but they have worked on projects together in the past. Their completed murals at the CDM not only reactivated the portico but helped unify the whole space with the museum's beautiful architecture building by Richardo Legorreta.
Jaque Fragua of the Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico transformed the Children Discovery Museum’s massive portico with bright/bold symbols inspired from the community’s input. He created the iconographic motifs based on design ideas submitted by the 50 Rocketship Alma Academy 2nd – 5th grade students, EY corporate volunteers, and museum staff. “I'm using a method called stylization, which breaks down natural imagery into bold iconographic motifs. This has been a technique used by Pueblo artists for centuries and can be found on pottery, murals, and textiles. It has made visual language more direct and impactful for the viewer. I'm also inspired by Alexander Girard's folk art designs.” Jaque’s personal work experiments with various mediums such as aerosol, found-objects, earthworks, poetry, music, messages of civil unrest, social justice, emotional introspection, and personal healing.
EL Mac, who is an artistic historian in his own right, captures the influence of culture within his work. He transformed the exterior of the portico with a portrait of Sophie Cruz. Sophie (born 2009 or 2010) is an American activist. Her parents, Raul and Zoyla Cruz, are undocumented immigrants from the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. Her fears that her parents could face deportation have made her one of the youngest voices in the American immigration reform movement of 2016–2017. (via web). This mural was made possible by a collaboration with the San Jose Museum of Art and The Propeller Group (photograph by @ericheights)
A special "thank you" to the SJMA, CDM, and OCA for helping make this a seamless partnership!
New OPSKI mural with TASC youth in Downtown San Jose
We had the please working again with TASC (Teaching Adolescents Skills for the Community). They brought out a group of youth over a weekend to help paint a fence that was getting constantly vandalized. Artist OPSKI had worked with this group of youth earlier in 2017 and this was another opportunity around the corner from the first mural.
Thank you for SVCreates and the Santa Clara County department for making this happen! We look forward to continuing this partnership working with TASC!
