How do you honor the legacy of a figure as towering as the late poet Maya Angelou?
One Los Angeles school has made a valiant effort with the launch of the week-long “Maya Angelou Mural Festival,” where more than two-dozen local and international artists, including Shepard Fairey, Daniel Arsham, and JR, created massive murals throughout the campus of the the Dr. Maya Angelou Community High School.
Branded Arts, a Los Angeles-based company that creates bespoke art environments for companies like Nike, Ray-Ban, Toyota, and Soho House, coordinated the event and reached out to the participating artists, who in turn transformed Angelou’s philosophies into visual art.
The result is an array of works, some political and some decorative, but all based on the tenets of Angelou’s work to promote creativity, individuality, and perseverance.
HUGE’s mural. Photo: wiseknave (2019).
One recurring motif is the phoenix, which recently replaced a wolf as the school’s mascot, symbolizing Angelou’s famous poem “Still I Rise,” a phrase that also found its way into many of the works.
See the murals that resulted below.
Murals by Mr. B Baby of the school’s former mascot, the wolf, and new one, the phoenix.
Valfre’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Raquel Rojas’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Perez Bros’ mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Add Fuel’s Mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
ZUCO’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Brushwork’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Axel void’s mural, (2019). Photo: Impermanent Art.
Aerial view of Shepard Fairey’s mural (2019). Photo: Impermanent Art.
Shepard Fairey’s mural of Angelou. Photo: Jon Furlong for Obey Giant.
Shawn Michael Warren’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
L.E.O.’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Aerial photo by Add Fuel, photo: wiseknave.
Tochlita (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
WISEKNAVE Fine Art Documentation for Rabi of Cyrcle and JR’s Insideout Project at the Maya Angelou Mural Festival in Los Angeles. 2019.
WISEKNAVE Fine Art Documentation for Rabi of Cyrcle and JR’s Insideout Project at the Maya Angelou Mural Festival in Los Angeles. 2019.
Victoria Cassinova, HYPERX (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Tochlita (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Daniel Arsham, Maya Angelou High School (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Faith XLVII (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Victoria Cassinova’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
WISEKNAVE Fine Art Documentation for Axel Void at the Maya Angelou Mural Festival in Los Angeles. (2019) Courtesy of Branded Arts.
Jona Meelan’s mural (2019). Photo: staticmedium.
Mural by Nonca (2019). Photo: staticmedium.