In 2021 Eugene will be hosting the World Athletics Championships, and the goal of the 20×21 project is to have decorated the city with twenty world class murals by then. New pieces are added each summer, and by happy accident our barely 24 hour visit overlapped with this year’s visual arts festival. Thus we were able to see works in progress and some so new the paint had barely dried! Tracking down these and the installations from previous years gave us an interesting way to explore downtown Eugene, which turned out to be a very walk-able city (especially by american standards). Along the way we also found plenty of smaller contributions by the mural artists, as well as work not related to 20×21. Here’s a few photographic highlights.
By WK Interact (France/USA), at First Christian Church; new for 2018.
By Hush (UK), at Falling Sky Brewing House, from 2017.
Bayne Gardner's 2018 contribution at Falling Sky Brewing was still a work in progress when we wandered by.
Another mural by Bayne Gardner (I think!)
Blek Le Rat's 'Pied Piper' from 2017 is most easily viewed from the roof of a car park on 10th and Oak - so we did just that.
Tibet mural by Jim Evangelista.
A small portion of Beau Stanton's 2016 piece on the McDonald Theatre (as viewed from the bus station).
By Aiko (Japan/USA) on Willamette and 7th; fresh on for 2018!
Aiko piece alternative angle.
My favourite piece - Eugene local Ila Rose's two-sided piece on a former sawdust silo.
Well worth the detour from downtown to check out.
Detail from Ila Rose's work.
Reverse angle.
This huge wall by Hua Tunan (China) mixes graffiti and brushwork; added to West 4th avenue in 2017.
Detail from Hua Tunan's wall.
Detail from Lopez' mural.
By Steven Lopez, one of the first 20x21 murals from 2016 which can be found at WildCraft Cider Works' warehouse.
Much older work by the 'youth mural collective' in 2008.
'Dog daze of summer' from a 2017 visit by Dutch duo Telmo Miel.
One of Dan Witz' small tromp l'oeil installations scattered around Eugene in 2017.
Plenty of other pieces to be found beyond the big murals.
One of many smaller additions by Blek Le Rat (France).
By Matt Small (UK), a new addition for 2018 and the first to pick up the sporting theme of the World Athletics Championships.