Howdy my name is GONZO247 and I will be your tour guy today, as we go on an urban Safari adventure to track down graffiti and street art murals here in Houston, Texas. 
Firstly let me introduce myself.

I am Mario, better known as GONZO247. 
I am an artist. I am a Houstonian, and considered a pioneer of the graffiti and street art movement in this wonderful city. 
If you are a Houstonian and into street art you might have heard my name before. If either of these areas are new to you - it will be my pleasure to showcase the street art in Houston and share the stories behind my murals.

Over the years my art has evolved from frowned upon graffiti tags to huge murals that are seen as an essential part of Houston's visual identity.&nbsp; Throughout the tour we will visit 13 murals.&nbsp; You will hear the story behind each one of them. We will talk about diversity, COVID and how it flipped our world upside down, as well as my personal story and the significance of street art in Houston.&nbsp; 
Are you excited to explore the alternative side of Houston?

I can’t wait to take you on an adventure!

Before we get started with the tour, let me give you a quick overview of how to use the GlobeTrott mobile app, so that you would have the best experience possible!

You have already downloaded the app and chosen the best tour in Houston - Great!

Houston is a massive city, so I guess it will not surprise you - you will need to drive or Uber to cover the distance between the murals. The total duration of the tour should *utake around an hour and 15 minutes.

The audio will start to play automatically as you reach locations that are part of the tour. Please keep your earphones in, so that you could hear me. If you feel a little bit lost, you can always use the map function. At the points when you need directions, just click on the map icon on the right hand corner, select the next stop that you should be visiting and click the directions button in the middle of the screen. Afterwards simply follow the provided directions and I will meet you at each of the locations.&nbsp; 
I want you to see the art from the best possible angles. And so when planning your route, I have ensured that directions provided by the map will lead you to the location where you should be able to safely park your car, followed by an additional set of directions to the best spot to see the mural.

To enhance your experience, I have also included some additional images. I’ll let you know when to check them out.

As you would expect, there’ll be plenty of great photo opportunities en-route - and we’d love to see your shots! So make sure to tag us in all your best pics using @gonzo247 and @globetrott.travel!

Practical information is shared and we are ready to go!

Let’s go explore the colorful Houston!


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Howdy!

So here we find ourselves in the heart of downtown in an area known as Market Square Park or Market Square we're standing in front of what is known as the Houston is mural. 
This mural was commissioned by the Greater Houston Visitors and Convention Bureau in 2013 this is part of a international campaign to promote Houston as a really cool unique destination for visitors around the world. Originally I had painted an image similar to this on canvas that was made into fine art prints and distributed with the media release. The image was received with great fanfare, so the people at The Visitors and Convention Bureau asked me if I would be able to reproduce the artwork on the canvas as a mural. I said yes- for sure, and they asked me “well, how big of a wall do you think you can paint on?” and my response was “well, how big of a wall can you get me?”. 
So in the end we were able to find this wall in Market Square.&nbsp; Previously it had a different mural but there was structural damage to the wall so after many years the wall had to be totally taken down and rebuilt so it just so happened that this wall was brand new and was in desperate need of some color so everything lined up and this wall was chosen for this mural. 
My task was to paint something larger-than-life to represent Houston based on the previous smaller canvas work. 
always felt that Houston was often overlooked or second-guessed. People would always think of Dallas and Austin and San Antonio and other surrounding cities and for whatever reason would avoid Houston so I immediately thought of Houston as the ugly caterpillar that wrongs the garden,&nbsp; that most people would just ignore… But Houston and Houstonian's seem to have rallied and started to really make something of themselves here in the city and make Houston a new Houston so as you look at the overall composition what I created as somewhat of an abstract butterfly this is Houston breaking out of its cocoon as a new city that is ready to take on the world. The central image is the word Houston itself with the downtown Skyline rising up from the city from the word Houston as you stand to the left and to the right we have these abstract patterns and shapes and images that represent the diversity of the city. Houston is the most diverse City in all of America and I wanted to show this. if you look at either side you'll see either a color combination or some kind of pattern or some kind of action that somehow mirrors or somehow is interpreted on the opposite side of the mural almost the same may be a little different but the point is - Houston is such a wide City with with cultures from around the world that you can find everything from around the world here whether it's music, art, cuisine, you name it. there is original culture… it’s the idea that no matter where you are in the city you going to find something really authentic so all of this is what gives the city energy so all the people all the diversity this was really the first mural that I painted that turned into the series called the hybrid of humanity where I take inspiration from different color patterns and symbols that make each culture unique I bring them together and I'm mash it all up and I create this new visual representation of what it looks like when we all come together and work as one and we are what give Houston its wings.

&nbsp;this mural is 30 ft tall by a hundred feet wide so it was definitely a task to paint but the good thing is that this wall was one of the first walls in downtown that helps to really solidify graffiti street art in the city instantly the mural really just grew its own wings and took off as more people found out it was here it became one of the must walls to photograph people that live here. people that came visiting all wound up looking for this wall and this was the first major wall in the heart of downtown that was directly accessible to people to come and photograph.

Houston is Inspired

Rodeo

This mural is titled City Life it is located on Main Street on the side of the JW Marriott Hotel the mural was commissioned by the JW Marriott Hotel to really bring some excitement to the entrance of the hotel. 
If you look at the mural it's a graffiti piece done in Wyld style - graffiti lettering that is purposefully hard to read but if you're looking at it you might be able to pull out the letters citylife. This Peril really represents the hustle and bustle of City Life of being in downtown walking around and exploring the city in your surroundings vibrant colors. Hopefully we will bring attention to the area and also literally brighten up Main Street.&nbsp;&nbsp;

I use high contrasting colors and heavy use the patterns within the graffiti piece if you look around you'll see some symbols embedded within the wild style lettering particularly you will see the state of Texas or should I say the shape of the state of Texas as a pattern I also included one of my iconic images from a different series of work titled the birth of creativity so if you look closely within the patterns you might recognize a little baby or fetus shape traveling throughout the piece the baby again is part of a different ongoing series that I like to include within my pieces the mural is along the lines of my graffiti roots and this is a good blend of traditional graffiti writing and my other artistic Styles of work and bringing these two together this really does help give Houston and Main Street some visual identity as well as a landmark four main street.&nbsp;

City life

Optimism, positive vibes, and good energy is infectious.&nbsp;

This mural “Optimism starts with you” is a reminder of that.&nbsp;

Let’s take a closer look at this artwork.

The central figure is you, me or any other person and the positive energy that we put into the world. 
With the use of blue shapes behind it, I am trying to visually showcase that optimism is being emitted and how it spreads, touching everything around us: our family, friends, community, and the whole world.

The bold, colorful lines and shapes represent energy around us. The compliments and encouragement that we receive from people affect our daily lives.&nbsp;

&nbsp;“Optimism starts with you” is part of the” Opt for Optimism” campaign, in partnership with Culture Map and Frost Bank. Together we wanted to bring a burst of color to the East End District. This mural was created in 2020 - at the start of the global COVID pandemic, a period of great uncertainty when all of us really needed positive energy in our lives!

I believe that optimism is a way out of a situation, a lot of time people get stuck in this cycle and feel like there's no way out. I would like for people to remember that they are part of a solution and their optimism can make a huge difference!

I encourage you to make a small act of kindness each day: smile, give a compliment, share words of encouragement - it doesn’t take much, but can really change the other person’s day. And this will definitely create more, so much needed positive energy, all around us!

Want to spread some visual optimism?&nbsp;

Stand in line with the silhouette and take a photo! 
Be sure to tag #optforoptimism, &nbsp;@gonzo247 and @globetrott.travel! in your capture!

Opt for Optimism

This mural is titled H-Town and was commissioned by the owners of the Hampton Inn Homewood Suites Hotel; they wanted to create an Instagram moment in downtown.&nbsp;

the hotel is positioned Within walking distance of a major league baseball stadium where the Houston Astros play, the Houston George R Brown Convention Center and Discovery Green.&nbsp; and many other restaurants and nightlife so the hotel noticed a lot of foot traffic coming across their space and they wanted to be able to provide The Pedestrian place to sit and the place to take photographs for themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Take a closer look at the mural, it is&nbsp; inspired by diversity. I wanted to incorporate humble beginnings, when speaking with the owners of the hotel they were explaining to me how they started in the business and how they got to where they were at today and so when you look at the mural you'll see above the word town and below the word town is this abstract cobblestone look. I feel the Cobblestone represents humble beginnings as in the long-term Journey that you take in life - not all the times your journey is on a nicely freshly paved Road many times your journey takes you through rough terrain, but you have to keep on going to get to the end of the journey.&nbsp;

Obviously the H-Town is the prominent focal point and everything else is kind of shooting off of the star. As you noticed this mural is full of patterns and color combinations, these patterns are definitely inspired by my interactions with different cultures and I love the use of the colors to tell that story of diversity here in Houston when you look at the patterns you might get a feel indigenous cultures right off the bat but I wanted to create something that anyone and everyone could relate to or could identify and be able to take something away with them I wanted everyone to be able to see this mural and feel included or really feel like this mural was for them. Since this has been painted in a sense, it’s done its job in stopping The Pedestrian and having them take photos of themselves and share this with their social media to really&nbsp; show that they are here in Houston and is the nickname for Houston so we thought it would be fun to have those words instead of the word Houston. 
This mural is about 20 feet wide by 40 feet tall. It's a rather large mural and it's visible from a couple blocks away. Personally, I like how this mural is naturally framed between the opening and the entryway of the hotel so it has a really nice framework around it. This mural was fun to work on and I always like when I have the artistic freedom to create. I feel this piece really represents the idea of coming together and working as one to make beautiful things happen.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

H-Town

Look straight ahead, you should see a building whose walls are decorated with “The Calm and The Courageous” mural.

I think this is the best spot to see the artwork in its full glory. 
This is a really large mural - it spreads over two adjacent walls and is over 150ft wide and 30ft tall. It took approximately 2 months to complete it, as the total area is about the size of 3 tennis courts.

I started the design of the mural together with Camden Downtown in 2020, early-on in the year when nobody even knew about the pandemic that was about to hit us hard. So, initially I wanted this installation to be a part of the Hybrid of Humanity Art Series that visually represents the diversity of cultures and different people who live in Greater Houston communities.

But with worldwide lockdowns happening around us, I felt that I also have to somehow reflect Covid-19 in my mural.

I wanted to encourage people to stay calm. The world around us is chaotic and there is nothing that we can do about it. Though if we stay calm, we can overcome the situation.

I also want to encourage people to be courageous and do something that positively contributes to your community, our society and fights social injustice.&nbsp; 
As Bob Marley sang in his song “One Love” -&nbsp; “Let’s get together and feel alright” - this is what I want for the world.

Don’t these bright colors make you feel this way?

I learnt about different cultures while travelling around the world and I wanted to represent them in the artwork. I used different color combinations and patterns which represent our differences. There is a lot of beauty in our differences, this is how we compliment each other.

You can easily see the circles that have gradients or smaller rings within each circle. They represent us, as individuals and the wider circles around us are our family, community - literally anything that surrounds us. You and me - we are the part of the bigger picture and we all have to coexist in harmony.

With the large blockbuster style word “Houston” we wanted to highlight our city and our community, as the rest of the art encompases the rest of the world.

The mural adds a dynamic punch to the Houston skyline. It grabs your immediate attention even from far away.

I hope these colors create positive thoughts for you and encourage you to be courageous and spread this positive energy through small actions, like giving a compliment to a friend.&nbsp;

Calm and the Courage

Think what these people have in common: Angeline Jolie, Ben Affleck, Oprah, Matthew McConaughey…

These are just some celebrities who do volunteer work.&nbsp;

Have you ever done some volunteering? Or participated in an activity to help your community? If not - this is the place to think about how you can create a positive impact.

This mural, named as “Lady Justice” was commissioned in June 2020 by Lone Star Legal Aid Organization, the name which you can spot at the bottom of the mural. This organization has been helping groups of low-income people on the community, state, and national level for decades. From public housing to health care access for children.

The central figure of this artwork - the blind justice lady is the organization itself. She has her eyes covered with the Texas flag, while in one hand she holds the scales of justice and on the other hand - the sword. This represents how the organization is fighting poverty and social injustice in spite of any obstacle that comes along.

For me, it was exciting to work on a 30-foot tall woman figure and find ways to reflect the organization's mission through such figurative work.

Behind the lady you can spot the contours of Texas and green-toned shapes on the right side of the map. These smaller parts represent all the counties within the state that this organization assists.&nbsp;

The imagery that comes bursting out from behind the state is stylistic work that I'm known for.&nbsp; 
You can recognise bright, bold colors and some elements that are part of the Hybrid of Humanity Art Series. As you already know, colors illustrate the diversity of Houstonians, it shows how dynamic, vivid, and positive we are. The series of dots in different colors represent us as individuals and the people who surround us. 
I always liked using really bright and bold colors because when you look at them during the day, the sunlight bounces off, colors start shining and it feels like the wave of positivity floods through you. 
 
That is why every time I have to work on graffiti, I always secretly embed optimism into my work with the hope that the viewer gets that burst of positive emotions when they look at it.&nbsp;

Lady Justice

You are standing in front of the “Houston Blue” Mural. The perfect spot for the start of our tour! 
We are in “Graffiti Park”, looking at the Mural that represents this city.&nbsp;

I know your eye is immediately drawn to the bright and bold Houston lettering. Firstly I want to draw your attention to the varied colorful combinations and interesting patterns that intertwine on both sides of the central image. What is your interpretation of them?

This represents what I call the “Hybrid of Humanity”. 
When I travel to other countries, I always pay attention to the local culture. Whatever part of the world I am in, I seek to experience and understand it as much as I possibly can. These different color patterns and symbols are a combination of all the little things that make a culture unique. 
 
The more time I have spent experiencing and observing different places, I started to see very clearly that we as people are a lot more alike than we are different.&nbsp; 
I guess the best way to explain this concept is… I mash up elements from different countries and cultures, while at the same time pairing and mixing them up into this beautiful blend.&nbsp;

What you are looking at here is the visual representation of what it looks like when we all come together as one - We can make really beautiful things happen.&nbsp;

Can you see the paths that are filled with stars? The start element represents our ancestors who helped us get to where we are today but continue to guide us into the future. We are all individual stars, while at the same time we know that we are part of something bigger.&nbsp; The star is also a nod to the Texan and American flags as a sign of Independence and the freedom to pursue your path in life.

In a way these patterns also represent us - Houstonians. Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States and I am exceptionally proud of how diverse my city is. Nearly 1 in 4 residents are born outside the US. As we interact with each other we share pieces of our culture, creating a vibrant and colorful culture of this city.&nbsp;

One of the things that I particularly like about this mural is how it merges with the environment around it. The city skyline is rising from behind the Houston lettering and as you continue to look up, you literally see the actual downtown skyline right behind the building. That it allows you as the viewer, to see the mural and what it depicts at the same time.&nbsp;

Everything that you see around the main image, showcases the energy and power of this city. 
I am a big fan of this mural, as it is so easily accessible and everyone can relate to it. Over the years it became a well known destination where locals and visitors alike come to take pictures to showcase that indeed - they are here in Houston!&nbsp;

Take as much time as you like here before we walk to have a look at a few more murals.&nbsp;

And yes - go ahead and take that insta worthy pic :)

Houston Blue

Houston 2020

Space City Love

We are now in the arts district, in Houston's historic First Ward looking at the mural titled “The Creative flow”.&nbsp; This mural was inspired by my experiences in the arts district as an artist. I've spent a lot of time navigating the streets and visiting spaces and Studios and warehouses and businesses this mural is inspired by the twists and turns and the constant sense of Discovery. as you explore your surroundings the colors match the vibrancy and diversity of the district residents, workers and visitors and throughout the mural there are different hints and nods to what you might experience in the area. this is an abstract interpretation,&nbsp;

so on the left hand side of the mural you will have a lot of blue color that represents the bayou, that borders the arts district. you see different shapes that have a gradient coming through either circles or triangles, these gradients depending on size will represent a person and their friends or a family unit or your community as they kind of flow through the peace represent you, a person coming through and exploring, running across other people, crossing paths with other people on the bike trails, or as you navigate on the streets.&nbsp;

the abstract white outline figures that kind of travel&nbsp;

&nbsp;the peace and these are the outlines of the railroad cars that you will also encounter while you are in the arts district, the major railroad lines that cut through Arts District Houston and chances are as a train goes past you'll also see some amazing graffiti art.&nbsp; there are some oblong elements embedded and these represent grains of rice this is a nod to my hot nun success race one of the major industries that existed at the time in the arts district. the idea of this mural is to really inspire people to come and visit the First Ward and we hope that people will then be able to see this mural and really get a sense of the excitement in the energy that this Arts Community brings. and what you can then share with your friends and family&nbsp;

The Creative flow

The be bold mural is located the campus of the University of St Thomas here in Houston Texas in the Montrose neighborhood. this is a really Dynamic mural that was inspired by the schools mantra “ Be bold” . The school was asking its students and staff faculty to have this Outlook. what better way to confirm this call to action than to have an exterior painted with a graffiti style mural on campus.

This mural definitely stands out. It is bold. The central figure is St Thomas he is holding a book titled Summa, which isa book he wrote, hehas a Halo and the Halo is actually one and the features of the Campus located next to the Saint Basile Chapel it's a labyrinth that is on the floor in the garden and I thought the Labrinth would make an interesting Halo. at the very bottom you have the word, Houston as this is where we're located. in the center of the word Houston just so happens to be the initials for the University of st. Thomas so you'll notice that UST is painted in different colors Houston this is done in the gold and maroon school colors.

rising from behind the word is actually the city skyline because the Montrose neighborhood is in the shadows of downtown.&nbsp; rising from behind the skyline is St Thomas since the university is embedded within one of its prominent neighborhoods. to the left&nbsp; of Saint Thomas you have the chapel of st. basil and to the right you have one of the historic Mansions from the city of Houston that is now it's part of the campus at St Thomas. throughout the mural you'll see these interesting twists and turns and Pathways with stars and circles floating throughout.&nbsp; these represent the different people that have come through these hallways, into the school and through the chapel. people that will in the future come through… and all the different ways that this school has integrated itself into the local community.

&nbsp;these circles is also life before during and after your time at St Thomas. and Nicholas not really know where we will go in life or who we will meet or where things will end up but at one point we all have all stepped through this campus so we were all somewhat connected get this space.

&nbsp;vibrant colors in the sky line represent the diversity of the students and staff faculty and also the city itself the green underneath the word Houston is a nod to the Lawns at the campus. and we hope. This year will inspire more murals on the campus to further blur the line between the neighborhood and the campus so as you walk through an explorer you might not even realize that you have gone from the neighborhood across into the campus&nbsp;

Be Bold

Howdy my name is GONZO247 and I will be your tour guy today, as we go on an urban Safari adventure to track down graffiti and street art murals here in Houston, Texas. 
Firstly let me introduce myself.

I am Mario, better known as GONZO247. 
I am an artist. I am a Houstonian, and considered a pioneer of the graffiti and street art movement in this wonderful city. 
If you are a Houstonian and into street art you might have heard my name before. If either of these areas are new to you - it will be my pleasure to showcase the street art in Houston and share the stories behind my murals.

Over the years my art has evolved from frowned upon graffiti tags to huge murals that are seen as an essential part of Houston's visual identity.&nbsp; Throughout the tour we will visit 13 murals.&nbsp; You will hear the story behind each one of them. We will talk about diversity, COVID and how it flipped our world upside down, as well as my personal story and the significance of street art in Houston.&nbsp; 
Are you excited to explore the alternative side of Houston?

I can’t wait to take you on an adventure!

Before we get started with the tour, let me give you a quick overview of how to use the GlobeTrott mobile app, so that you would have the best experience possible!

You have already downloaded the app and chosen the best tour in Houston - Great!

Houston is a massive city, so I guess it will not surprise you - you will need to drive or Uber to cover the distance between the murals. The total duration of the tour should *utake around an hour and 15 minutes.

The audio will start to play automatically as you reach locations that are part of the tour. Please keep your earphones in, so that you could hear me. If you feel a little bit lost, you can always use the map function. At the points when you need directions, just click on the map icon on the right hand corner, select the next stop that you should be visiting and click the directions button in the middle of the screen. Afterwards simply follow the provided directions and I will meet you at each of the locations.&nbsp; 
I want you to see the art from the best possible angles. And so when planning your route, I have ensured that directions provided by the map will lead you to the location where you should be able to safely park your car, followed by an additional set of directions to the best spot to see the mural.

To enhance your experience, I have also included some additional images. I’ll let you know when to check them out.

As you would expect, there’ll be plenty of great photo opportunities en-route - and we’d love to see your shots! So make sure to tag us in all your best pics using @gonzo247 and @globetrott.travel!

Practical information is shared and we are ready to go!

Let’s go explore the colorful Houston!

Houston

Houston Murals

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