As I drive around town, mostly running household errands, I frequently see murals. Most are on apartment buildings facades, some on businesses. These past few weeks, when I’ve been silent, I’ve decided to try to capture some of them on my I-phone.

In some instances, when traffic is light, I make u-turns. In others, I do my best to turn around and find a parking space. Others are captured from different vantage points.

Here’s a sampling of what has caught by my eye recently and a while ago. In some cases, I recognize the artist, in others they remain anonymous.

Steve Gagnon was one of the first local artists with whom we became familiar when we moved heree 20 some years ago. He welcomed us to his studio in the former South Florida Art Center. I was thrilled to see this mural by him on the way to and from the eye doctor. I did a legal turn to photo it!

Another local artist see all around town in Atomix. His smiling orange reminds us of our Orange Bowl (annual football championship) history. The stadium is gone, but lives in these joyous oranges. This one is at the Sneaker Impact building, a local charity (see 8/7/2022 post for more about Sneaker Impact). I’d passed this many times and took a chance recently to make a u-turn. Note the Haitian church behind.

Ernest Maran‘s realistic murals frequently depict animals. This one, seen a while ago in Fort Lauderdale, does not.

And yet another local mural painter goes by the name Hoxxoh. His work, too, is all around town, including in the Wynwood arts district. This is somewhere in the Design District, I think.

Another Design District wraps around a building. I don’t know who the artist is. As I drive by on the way to the grocery store it brings a smile to my face, makes me feel like dancing.

As our city deconstructs itself to build more and higher, a local, beloved Wells Fargo building (see 9-12-2022 post) was demolished. Many residents loved this building for the cheesy mosaics representing American history. It’s believed that they have been preserved in storage somewhere seeking a new space. In the meantime, the developer from time-to-time brings them to light on an oversized LED screen on the new, oversized building. I’ve not taken the time to stop, these photos were taken while stopped in the car by a red light.

Finally, for today’s exploration of local murals, the Grafitti Building (https://themindcircle.com/graffiti-in-art-basel/) . Sometime last year at the time of Art Week, a number of grafitti writers took possesion of a downtown building slated for demolition. The building is gutted inside, only the facade remains dwarfed by surrounding buildings, including our I.M Pei building on the right. On the left the spindly Challenger sculpture in Bayfront Park is visible.

This morning when I read my share of daily art newsletters, I saw an article about a similar Grafitti building in Los Angeles (https://hyperallergic.com/870121/artists-make-los-angeles-graffiti-history-by-painting-on-abandoned-high-rises/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=D020624&utm_content=D020624+CID_7ed0304d0fdd04278a5404d8071310de&utm_source=hn&utm_term=artists+make+LA+graffiti+history). Miami set the pace in this movement. No u-turn here; I saw this first with a tour group aboard one of the boats that cruise Biscayne Bay in search of the rich and famous. There it was! I was amazed by this great use of space, though fugitive.