West Side murals celebrate art, diversity

By Sean Dwyer and Youleidy Vega
Bengal News West Reporters

You may have seen them while going for a morning jog, or perhaps while drinking coffee near a window at your favorite coffee shop.                  

Maybe you have stopped in your tracks just for a second to admire them, or you could have possibly been so disturbed after seeing one that you vented to your friend about it later.

There are many murals on the West Side. Each one not only has its own story, but contributes to the ultimate urban experience.

Philip Ogle, on urban murals:


        Take a stroll down Allentown and stand right in between the intersection of Allen and College streets. There alone you will be able to see three murals on three different buildings all at once.

One popular mural has been the one located on the corner of Grant Street and Auburn Avenue. That particular mural was created by Philip Ogle, chair of the Fine Art department at Buffalo State.

“The mural deals with cultural diversity and the immigration to the West Side over the last 200 years starting with the Irish and railroad workers, to Italians to present day Burmese and Ethiopians,” said Ogle. “It helps to beautify vital areas but it also communicates to the residents that they are important by celebrating their ethnicity.”

Ogle said that murals have been in existence for more than 10,000 years and that there’s a lot that goes into the creation of each one.

He said that when putting together a mural, the artist generally talks to the residents of the community to get possible ideas. By doing so, the artist assumes the role of a journalist getting a collection of perspectives to potentially incorporate into their final products. 

Once the mural is finished, “it’s a look good, feel good,” for the community, said Ogle.

        Someone who would know exactly what Ogle was referring to is local artist Max Collins. Collins is a graduate of Michigan University with a dual-degree in Arts and Journalism.

Collins has contributed in numerous public arts projects in both Buffalo and Michigan. Now he owns his own business where he combines photography and a passion for murals for a living.

Collins said that one of his projects, a mural on the wall of Ro furniture store on Elmwood Avenue was done by taking a picture of a friend, tracing the photo on a piece of paper, enlarging it, and then tracing it again on the wall.

The subject of Collins’ photo was another local artist, Ian de Beer who also collaborated on the mural.

Collins said that they were trying to not only combine their styles, but to touch on the issue of graffiti on the West Side and the amount of attention it garners. Ian does graffiti, while Collins focuses more on large-scale photographic murals.

“We really simply just wanted to present a new angle in graffiti writing. So we took a photo of Ian holding a marker and made it look like he is tagging and we blew it up and put it on the side of the building,” said Collins.

Often confused, Collins said that graffiti and murals are completely different forms of art.

“Graffiti is illegal: illegal writing; illegal street art. A mural is picturesque commissioned by building owners. But as graffiti has become more mainstream, the two do overlap. Sometimes you find graffiti-styled murals,” said Collins.

De Beer was also able to take part in is the graffiti-styled mural located at Allen and College streets on the wall of Holly Farms.  De Beer’s inspiration for this mural was Spain Rodriquez, a successful 19^th century aristocratic artist.

Although he specializes in graffiti, de Beer has always had a passion for murals and considers them to be essential in keeping communities together.

“Murals are the glue of our society. Without public art who knows where we would be today. Without murals, I think our society would fall apart, and I think it’s because it’s a part of the human condition to need to see artwork on walls,” said de Beer. “Without it people would have no relationship to their surroundings and chaos would ensue.”

His fellow artist Collins also believes that art can exist as a symbol and has a way of speaking to a wide variety of people.   

“They are a symbol of human activity,” said Collins.  “And is something powerful enough to make you forget your next meal.”