Subi Roberto's Downtown Miami Mural Project Completed

Ms. Roberto's Mural (photo from Miami Downtown News)

I'm a sucker for murals. I enjoy looking at building-scale, urban murals, such as those spawned by Philadelphia's innovative Mural Arts Program. A New Jersey-based artist my wife and I know, Dan Fenelon, creates murals in high-energy, low-income areas as well as for ambitious regional museums. His work is consistently interesting. When he discusses his projects, Fenelon exudes an energy and joy that seem connected to the venues and the audience experience of the murals. (I mentioned Fenelon's work in a recent blog post about an art walk in Montclair, New Jersey.)

Recently, self-trained artist Subi Roberto recently completed a mural on a building in Miami's emerging arts district. The work's style, from what I can determine from photographs, fits the monumental scale murals typically require. The pictures, and an associated story about Roberto's project, appear in today's online editions of the Miami Herald.

One curiosity is Ms. Roberto's background. According to the Herald article, the Miami-based artist "was raised on a Hindu commune in West Virginia until age 17 when she moved with her parents to Hawaii..." Roberto never went to art school. Ironically, her moment of inspiration came from looking at an art magazine which included a story about a gallery that sold something for $750,000.

In that moment an artist was born.

A Walk on the Art Side in Montclair

My wife and I drove to Montclair, New Jersey, this evening to check out "A Little Night Art, Gallery Walk VIII." A number of galleries and storefronts participated in the event, but the supposedly art-oriented Montclairians largely stayed away. It's too bad, as some of the displayed work was strong and worthy of a stroll on a crisp autumn evening. The best of the lot was by Dan Fenelon at 73 See Gallery.

Fenelon's work, such as Petro Graf, appears at times to combine Meso-American motifs with the spirit of graffiti. That he's able to sustain that vision and style borders on the amazing. And Dan's warm, engaging personality is the perfect foil to his art. He's what my wife would characterize as a mensch, and would unhesitatingly call an artist.

(Petro Graf appears here with permission of Dan Fenelon.)