Client: Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

Overview

Starcycle
2014
in-situ acrylic and enamel wall drawings
27 x 81 feet
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara commission at MCA Satellite/Hotel Indigo, Santa Barbara, CA

Goals

Vargas-Suarez Universal (V-SU) was commissioned by the MCA Santa Barbara to create a temporary outdoor mural for the group exhibition, "The Vastness is Bearable" at the MCA Santa Barbara satellite space, Hotel Indigo. The aim of the mural was to be a landmark for the exhibition on Santa Barbara's busiest pedestrian and motor trafficked downtown street. The mural and the exhibition were on view for 1 year.

Process

the MCASB and the artist worked with Josh Blumer, AB Design Studio, Santa Barbara, CA; Ginny Brush, Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, CA; Historical Landmarks Commission, Santa Barbara, CA; Hotel Indigo, Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA; Santa Barbara Sentinel, CA; Barry Winick, Winick Architecture Design, Santa Barbara, CA; Visual Art in Public Places Committee, Santa Barbara, CA; Nathan Vonk, Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, CA; and the artist was assisted by young artists from Youth Interactive, Santa Barbara, CA. "Starcylce" was the first public mural to be approved for a landmarked building in more than 40 years.

Additional Information

The artist was assisted by at risk youth from Youth Interactive to create the mural over a 11 day period. The artist generally worked from 9 AM until 10 PM with regular meal breaks in between. The working relationship between the artist and the Youth Interactive artists was noted in local newspapers and TV. After the completion of this project, Youth Interactive was asked to assist in more projects in and around Santa Barbara. "Starcycle" has been their largest project to date.