Richmond murals Archives

Lies About Murals Can Be Fun

Kaitlin Edwardson | January 31, 2020

Topics: George Tisdale, public art, Richmond murals, richmond va, RVA, street art, things to do in richmond va, Would I Lie To You? Mural Walk

Would I Lie To You? Mural Walk creator George Tisdale unreliably narrates tours of Richmond’s murals. It’s more entertaining than you’d think.

The Would I Lie To You? Mural Walk showcases some of the most beautiful, and most hidden, murals in and around Richmond, but with a twist. The stories told at each mural could be complete lies, and it is up to you to decide if you trust your guide or not.

George Tisdale, the owner, and guide of Would I Lie to You? Mural Walks, starts off the tour by saying, “From here on, I am not a reliable narrator.” After each explanation, the group must decide if they trust his story or not. Each story sounds completely believable but always contains a subtle hint at the answer, so you have to listen carefully.

Tisdale started the company in May 2019, after fabricating a story about a mural that he found while on a hike through downtown Richmond. The people on the hike believed him at first, then laughed when they found out he wasn’t telling the truth. From then on, Would I Lie to You? Mural Walks was born. It soon grew to the four different walking tours offered now. The mural that started it all is still part of the Downtown walk, but Tisdale’s story about it is still a lie, so pay close attention.

Each of the four walks explores separate parts of Richmond.

The Carytown walk is offered on Saturdays at 4 p.m. It is around 3 miles long, and the tour takes about an hour and a half. The tour starts in the heart of Carytown and takes you on a loop where you will see murals of skeletons, explorers, human forms, animals, and more, according to the website.

If you wish to explore the Fan District and VCU, there is a 3-mile, hour and half walk that analyzes around 20 murals. Available on Saturdays at 1 p.m., this tour begins just past VCU and features murals of people, abstract collages, and cartoon shapes.

The Monroe Ward mural walk is the longest walk, reaching 3.6 miles and taking about an hour and 45 minutes to complete. Cultural murals, celebrations of Jackson Ward and African American history, are showcased in this journey between VCU’s campus and downtown Richmond, the website says. This mural walk is on Sunday’s at 2 p.m.

The final walk weaves through the Canal Walk and Shockoe Slip on Fridays at 7 p.m., lasting an hour and a half and equating about 2 miles. From murals in hidden alleys to paintings that take up several buildings, there is a variety of artists and styles for everybody to appreciate.

The tours are not always the same, because Tisdale continues to find new murals and learn more about the origins and artists, he said. While on the tours, he frequently makes stops at newly discovered murals that have yet to be added to the tour but are interesting to discuss. By asking the owners of local businesses and people who have lived by the murals for years, Tisdale is able to gain information about the origin and artists behind the works. However, it is up to him whether or not to tell the group the true story, or to test their trust and create a completely different scenario.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-13, and free for children under the age of 5. You can purchase tickets and find additional information about the Would I Lie To You? Mural Walk at wouldilietoyoumuralwalks.com.

Mural Photos via RVA Mag archives. For more information about the Richmond Mural Project and artists behind each mural, visit their site here and find your favorite.

VCU Honors College looks to Richmond Mural Project for vibrant rebrand

Amy David | September 8, 2017

Topics: abstract art, art, London graffiti artist, murals, Remi Rough, richmond mural project, Richmond murals, RMP 2017, RVA ARt, vcu, VCU Honors College, VCUarts

For the people outside of the 1,000 students that make up the VCU Honors College, the West Grace Street building may just get lost in the city skyline and sea of buildings downtown.

But if you’ve noticed within the last week, a big splash of color has been painted across the east side of the tall building. That seven-story-high mural is courtesy of London abstract graffiti artist Remi Rough, who the university commissioned to bring their building to life.

“It’s a fabulous piece of work, it’s his largest,” said Barry Falk, Dean of the VCU Honors College. “From what I understand, it’s the largest mural in Richmond.”

The last six months the college has been working on a rebranding campaign to heighten its visibility within the community and attract potential students.

“One of the Honor College’s main challenges is to become visible not just on campus, but off campus as well, we tend to be a little bit hidden because all of our students also have majors at other schools and colleges,” he said. “So, the Honors College is a bit mysterious to a lot of people.”

To help kick it into high gear, Falk and Tom Klug, associate vice president of university marketing, sought out the help of Richmond Mural Project curator Shane Pomajambo to help with their rebranding campaign and give potential students a reason to take a second look when weighing their options.

“We’ve been working with Tom to make ourselves more visible both on and off campus and part of that is the sort of things we do and making sure people know about what we do and all the great things that our students do on campus and in the community,” he said. “But also, to rebrand ourselves to help people get a better sense of what we’re all about.”

Falk wanted something similar to the look and vibe of other VCU buildings so the two became to brainstorm ideas.

“I think I brought to him {Klug} the idea, the school of art at VCU has bright banners all over the place on their buildings and I was talking to Tom about maybe us doing something like that,” he said.

Given all of the wall space, Klug suggested a mural and had a connection with Richmond Mural Project, and at the same time, Pomajambo was trying to get RMP 2017 together, so the three decided to work together on this new project.

Rough, who combines graffiti and futuristic styles together, began work near the end of last month and it was completed in a matter of days.

The artist has been an innovator in the art community for over 30 years as a writer and artist. He is a founding member of Agents of Change (AOC), an international artist’s collective, and part of the abstract graffiti movement ‘Graffuturism’ and his work has been featured everywhere from Morroco, to Paris, Toyko, Los Angeles, Miami, to DC, and New York.

Rough also painted a smaller mural in the lobby to continue the theme inside, but the outside mural is the main attraction.

“From what I understand, depending on where you are east of the building, you can see it from downtown and MCV campus, we commissioned that and I’m really glad that it’s providing us with that kind of visibility and providing Richmond with that kind of artwork. I think Richmond is a mural-oriented city, and I think this fits in beautifully to that,” Falk said.

Considering VCU’s top ranked arts and design school and with the some odd 3,000 students from 35 countries and 39 states that attend, on top of an ever-growing community of Richmond muralists, it seems there is already a plethora of local talent, but Falk said they felt it would be a task for a seasoned professional and one who had not yet left their mark on the city.

“We did think about a student or more from the school of the arts and in fact, we’ve used them for a number of other thing we’ve done, but we thought this was really such a big project…we weren’t sure anybody in the school of the arts had the kind of experience to take something like that on.”

“Second, the opportunity that an internationally renowned artist on campus to do this for us was just really irresistible, and third we just thought in terms of connecting with the community, being part of the Richmond {Mural} Project would be really useful and important and valuable for that.”

But Rough’s mural is only part of the college’s rebranding campaign. Falk said they have plans to change the curriculum as well as get incoming students more involved in the local community.

“One of the Honor College’s newest traditions is a Day of Service with the incoming Freshmen class. Every Fall, the Honors College partners with the VCU Student Leadership and Involvement Center to spend a day improving the Richmond community,” he said. “Over 200 Honors Students spend a day cleaning up parks, improving local schools, planting sustainable gardens, and working at local charities in an effort to make their community a better place.”

This year’s Day of Service will be held on September 23rd as part of the city-wide HandsOn Greater Richmond project.

Richmond Mural Project 2016 starts next week, here’s everything you need to know

Brad Kutner | July 5, 2016

Topics: richmond mural project 2016, Richmond murals, RMP 2016

The Fifth installment of the Richmond Mural Project starts next week, July 11th through the 22nd, and there’s plenty of chances for you to check out live painting as well as meet the muralists before they sweat and paint under the RVA sun.