Client: City Of Houston - Houston Airports

Overview

In an ongoing effort to expand representation within the Public Art Program at Houston Airports and to add to the cultural richness and sense of place for our passengers, the Houston-born artist Cruz Ortiz was chosen for a significant mural project at William P. Hobby Airport. His10ft high by 30ft long triptych mural acknowledges the ancestral sacred territories and waters of the Karankawa peoples on land that is now called Houston, Texas. Cruz created a visual response to the region, and includes his own artistic vocabulary as well as iconography and syymbolism important to indigieeous peoples. The artist states, " This mural is actually two portraits - one of the figure, a decendant of the Karakawa Nation, and one of the Texas landscape."

Goals

To expand representation within the City Of Houston Civic Art Collection at the Houston Airports by recognizing indiginous peoples, while strengthening the sense of place and enhancing the passenger experience.

Process

The artist Cruz Ortiz was chosen from 158 applicants to address a large wall area at Houston Hobby Airport near Gate 1 which services passengers bound primarily for Mexico and Latin America. He created a three-panel mural, with each panel measuring 10'x10' joined together to create an impactful mural.

Additional Information

The Houston-born artist Cruz Ortiz is known for telling the stories of heroes and heroines in dream-like sequences. His paintinigs include the shape-shifting, shaman-masked vaquero self-portraits, as well as the elaborate romantic cosmica portraits of his life partner, Olivia. He creates images of reclaimed landscapes, often presenting a revelational and revelutionary side of the story different from what we have heard before from manifested conquerors. In his work, there is a constant exchange between the reality and the reflection of that reality.