Mudslide Mural By Installation Artist Yvonne Shortt Gets Updates

Three years ago social practice installation artist, Yvonne Shortt, had an idea. Ms. Shortt wanted to revitalize an underpass wall that resides in her community. Unfortunately, the wall was known to have mud that slid from the top of the wall to its bottom on rainy days. "No one wanted to design a mural for this wall so I decided I would not only design the concept but use the mud as my inspiration," said Ms. Shortt.

The mural would tell the story of a little girl losing her umbrella because of the mud. And, her umbrella would trigger a set of events above. The birds (designed by Mayuko Fujino) who were traveling in homogenous packs in the sky would be forced to break apart or be hit by the flying umbrella. Ms. Shortt wanted to communicate the importance of the birds traveling outside of their own kind.

"In my community I see people only willing to hang around their own kind; Republicans hanging with Republicans, Democrats with Democrats, people who speak a certain language only hanging with people from that same culture..." Ms.Shortt wanted people in her community to be more willing to talk to people of other religions, ethnicities, and political affiliations. This mural was telling her story and her dream for her community.

Three years later Ms. Shortt and her Studio, RPGA Studio, are back at the underpass. However, this time they are adding color to the mud. Perhaps in highlighting the mud using color she can also continue to highlight the importance of people talking with others who don't think alike or look alike.