Gaia finished up his piece on the corner of Rowland and Main St. today. You might recognize this wall from an earlier post during the RMP that showed an outline that had been started by local tattoo artist Jesse Smith. Because of problems with the lift and some other administrative issues, Jesse was not able to finish in the window of time he had allotted for his mural so the wall was passed on to Gaia. He produced a very Richmond-esque piece that features a monument labeled “Smith" for Captain John Smith holding a ship. Smith was a British soldier who “left his mark" on the Jamestown region of Virginia and was the beneficiary of the generous actions of Pocohontas and other indigenous peoples of the area. The James River is rising over the landscape in front of the monument and provides a stark contrast to most of RVA’s monuments which look out over the lush greenery of Monument Avenue or the Richmond Capitol building.

At the bottom of the piece is the quote “To Conquer is to Live • Endless Frontier Gaia 2013". This is a reference to John Smith’s biography which is titled “To Conquer Is To Live" and provides a dose of terrestrial irony in the fact that John Smith lived by those words but, ultimately, the waters of the Earth (Gaia) will conquer all that man has created time and time again. That’s my take on it. Stop by and check it out to reach your own conclusions.

"Ever has left the building!" And he left it much better than he found it. The final product at 534 N. Harrison is a much needed addition to the VCU and RVA landscape. VCU has become a beacon for international students over the years so it’s good to finally have at least one mural (with more hopefully on the way!) that reflects the diversity of the school’s population. Stop by and check it out!

There is a bit of a lull in Richmond Mural Project activity until more artists come to town in the next couple of days. Stay tuned as we will have all the info and updates as they occur and mark your calendar to attend the Richmond Mural Project street party on July 27th. I’ll be there providing some outernational sounds with some other local DJs so come out and meet some of the RMP artists and see them work on a live collabo mural. Guaranteed fresssshhhh!
Mikemetic
p.s. You can catch all of our past Richmond Mural project updates HERE.
The following was originally posted at TRS804 . Thank you to Mike Kemetic for letting us repost!