For Muralist Jhonattan Arango, painting is all about slowing down and silencing all the voices in your head. It’s a passion that has brought the artist, who is from West Palm Beach, Fla., from city to city across the country, painting murals for communities and helping out with public art projects.
On Friday, Black Tulip and Floral Design, along with Odessa Arts, hosted a community mural painting day at the flower shop where Arango was able to assist community members in making their own mark on the piece that he’s been working on for the past month.
Since early February, Arango, whose artist name is known as “Anon,” has been painting a mural of a flower outside the building for Black Tulip Floral Design over on 4651 N. Grandview Ave.
The project is part of the Mural Assistance Grant that Odessa Arts launched this year to help businesses inside Odessa put art on their walls. Black Tulip is the first grant recipient.
“We award up to $2,500 in reimbursable expenses to choose an artist to paint something on the side of their wall,” Odessa Arts Executive Director Randy Ham said while explaining the Mural Assistance Program.
The program looks for an artist to create the mural for the business. “We did a call for art that went out across the United States,” Ham said. Eighty-one people applied to create the design for Black Tulip.
Ham, along with Black Tulip co-owners Eric Valdez, Edgar Salazar and another member from the public art committee, reviewed all the applications and soon narrowed it down to three finalists, asking the finalists to create proposals.
“The first thing is when we heard about the mural assistance program, it was perfect timing,” Valdez said. “We had just painted our building and it needed something. It was perfect to get something done.”
Ham said it’s ultimately the decision of the business owner of what kind of mural they want to put up outside their building.
“I’ll talk to them about maintenance or upkeep, but in terms of what speaks to the public and business owners, it’s up to them,” Ham said.
It wasn’t long before Arango was selected to paint the mural for Black Tulip Floral Design.
“The city of Odessa put out a call to artists and when I saw that it was flowers, it was really important to me because I’ve been working with flowers throughout my life, but I’ve never done a flower as the center theme so this is the first time I’ve done that,” Arango said.
Arango, who was born in Camaguey, Cuba, makes geometric murals and paper art using only triangles. He’s been known for his ability to create visual dichotomies using the rigid shape of the triangle to bring highly organic, fluid compositions to life. Murals have always been a big part of his projects.
“I figured out at some point that I had the talent for art,” Arango said. “I was born with it, but it took me forever to come around to it.”
Arango used to be in the military and then got out of that to work for a financial company. But Arango said he really wanted to do something that he loved and soon went into doing public art.
“I started making art full time and I love the social aspect, so it was only a matter of time where I decided to put artwork on public walls and make it into a public affair,” Arango said. “I started doing community murals. To me, making public art is a public service and it makes me happy.”
He was happy to get to let other members of the community, which included kids, to make their own mark on the mural outside Black Tulip Floral Design.
“I realize that a lot of people haven’t touched a brush since they were in second grade,” Arango said. “It gets a person in such a zone. It’s stopping for a second and silencing all the chatter in your head when you paint. It welcomes people into that experience to slow down and paint. You have nothing to worry about. You’re not going to mess up. Paint outside the lines if you want. Just paint. As far as what I can give to people, this is wonderful.”
He says the lack of other professional muralists has allowed him to travel across the country painting murals in different communities.
“There are not a lot of professional muralists,” Arango said. “Maybe because of that, I’ve had some great opportunities to paint all over the United States and some amazing areas. There’s a lot of satisfaction from being around communities.”
Arango arrived in Odessa in early February to get started on the mural, but inclement weather forced a few delays.
“Half of that time has been too cold to paint, so I’ve been just hanging around a lot,” Arango said. He didn’t have to worry about the weather this week as temperatures warmed up into the 60s and 70s. Usually at each city, Arango says he stays at an Airbnb.
“As with anything else, to take on the arts as a professional career, there’s a lot of business that has to be taken into account,” Arango said. “Normally, I have to make sure it’s part of the arrangement or make sure it can be covered with a budget but I normally stay at Airbnbs.”
For Valdez and Salazar, the mural comes less than a year after Black Tulip Floral Design moved to its new location.
“We’re super excited about the mural,” Valdez said. “Just to see the progress every day. It’s just great.”
Ham says there will be more murals from the grant that will be going up throughout the city in the next 18 months.
“We have one at the parking garage at the side of the Marriott,” Ham said. “Another one going on the side of the ECISD Development Office for their 100th anniversary. We have one going on the side of the Family Wellness Clinic on Lee and then we’re helping the Black Cultural Council do a Black History mural at Frederick Douglas Park.”
He said there are plenty of ways for businesses that are interested in the mural assistance grant to get involved.
“If you’re reading this article and you want a mural assistance grant, please contact Odessa Arts at odessaarts.org, or come into our office because we’d love to talk you through the process because for us, more art is better than less art so we want to help get as many murals on the sides of business that we want,” Ham said.
