2016 Partner Program Mural
Partner: Conscience Bay Company
Location: 929 Pearl St Boulder, CO 80302
Photos by Forde Photo
This mural was commissioned to bring life and movement to a closed off corridor created by neighboring property development.
And Art Space (now Street Wise Arts) and Conscience Bay Company are thrilled to present a new mural project in the west corridor of 929 Pearl Street by Portland, Oregon-based Rather Severe (Jon Stommel and Travis Czekalski). In May 2016, the artists have contributed their creative vision to an unadorned wall between two buildings on west Pearl Street. Curated and organized by And Art Space and funded by Conscience Bay Company, the project’s ultimate goal was to bring creative energy and vitality to an area that had previously held a view of the Flatirons and foothills of Boulder. After recent development of the property at 9th and Pearl, offices in the 929 building were now facing a large blank wall. Conscience Bay Company saw this wall as a canvas and an opportunity to give back to the community through the creation of a large-scale arts mural.
Being just out of public view, but accessible for those who know where to look, the mural acts as a “secret” destination for art lovers and street art hunters. The new mural installation provides inspiration and a sense of place for the Pearl street office community as well as the whole West Pearl business area.
About the Artist
Travis Czekalski and Jon Stommel work collaboratively as ‘Rather Severe’, creating Murals, Illustrations, and Public Art, to inspire their community and enrich the experience of being in public spaces. Their works are a conversation with a wide variety of residential and commercial clients, whom they encourage to share their visions for an art piece and then work with to realize those visions within their own unique visual language. In this way the work creates a direct connection between the artists, their clients, and the communities and places that their artwork becomes a part of.
Travis and Jon each received a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, where they began working together in 2010. The first projects they created collaboratively were experimental stop motion animations, transitioning shortly after into commissioned mural projects for a local library and several ‘Mellow Mushroom’ pizza restaurants. In late 2011, Travis and Jon moved Rather Severe to Portland, OR, with the hope of doing more collaborative public mural works and illustration commissions. In early 2023 they relocated from Portland to the Midwest & New England areas and will continue creating collaborative public mural works together around the U.S.
Rather Severe has participated in many mural festivals including Mural Fest SSL, Forest for the Trees, Colorado Crush, the SODO Track Project, RKY MTN Walls, and Clark County Summer of Murals. Rather Severe has also worked on commissioned commercial painting projects and public murals in many other cities including Roanoke VA, Minneapolis, Myrtle Beach, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Bellevue OH, Lincoln NE, Atlanta, Denver, among others.
Rather Severe has also collaborated with corporate clients including Adidas, Target, Mellow Mushroom, Microsoft, and FLIR, and Fisher Price.