Last week Reuben Cheatem, an artist that we worked with to paint two separate murals, made me aware that a set of postcards with a photo of one of those murals, was being sold without his consent at a local store in Des Moines. Since learning about this, I have been in communication with both Reuben and the photographer who was selling the postcards and we have had them removed from the store. I am also still working offline with both Reuben and the photographer to try and remedy this situation as best as we can. To get to the point, the photographer did not understand what they were doing and thought that they were in fact helping to promote Reuben’s work. This does not excuse their actions, it was a mistake, but it is understandable how someone might misinterpret or misunderstand the protocols when it comes to public art. This is not the first time we have had an issue like this come up and while I hope it is the last, I am sure it will not be.
So, I want to use this as an opportunity to explain the reasons why this situation is problematic and hopefully help others be more aware so we can avoid something similar from happening in the future.
First, while public art is of course for the public to enjoy and share how they choose, it is still a copyrighted image that belongs to the artist. If you are a photographer and you want to sell images of a mural, you must get written permission directly from that artist before doing so. Any use of that work that generates income for someone other than the artist, is considered an infringement of that copyright and the artist can take legal action if they choose.
Should this discourage people from taking photos of the murals or using the murals as backdrops for things like senior photos, music videos, or street photography? No. In these cases, if the mural is not the focus of your image or video, and it is simply a backdrop or a setting, then you do not need permission from the artist. However, a shout-out or a credit is always appreciated. Artists like knowing people enjoy their work.
(Continued in comments)
I recently learned that one of our favorite murals, painted by @Sentrock in 2018, was covered up by the property owner. I was of course not notified by the property owner and it definitely doesn't feel good, but it was within his right to do it.
I knew this would be an eventual possibility simply because securing this location with the owner was an extremely difficult challenge to begin with and because at the time, the City Planning and Zoning department flat out refused to support our efforts to work with this property owner, not because of the conditions of his buildings, but because of the "content" of our murals.
While this location was difficult to secure and it came with many risks, I would not change the way we did things. These kind of walls are high impact and they make a difference to people that actually live in the neighborhood even if they are shorter lived than we might like.
I'm sorry for Sentrock to have his second mural in Des Moines go down in this kind of way and I'm sorry to the community and anyone that appreciated the joy the piece brought to them. I hope while it was up that residents in the neighborhood and the kids at Capitol View Elementary were at least able to get a little dose of that.
I'm working to figure out what happens next and if there is a way to bring Sentrock back to Des Moines. I will keep everyone posted.
Final mural of the season is officially wrapped! Big thank you to @iamzomb and @jakexgracey for coming out and sharing their talent and creativity with the community. I am especially grateful to them for doing it without any of the same support I usually tried to offer artists when I was in town. I also want to thank them both for just doing something fun and colorful. I think sometimes there is pressure for murals to have a serious message or theme or be almost literal. None of which is wrong, and often times it's needed, but we need to strike a balance and appreciate the fun stuff too. Just as much talent and skill and creativity and meaning goes into making a graffiti piece, as a portrait, or a social justice mural. And there are plenty of empty walls out there for all of this art to coexist and be appreciated equally.
So with all of the murals we put up, I hope this leads to a lot more color going up all around Des Moines, from all types of artists.
Big thank you again to both Nick and Jake. Catch their new mural on the the back wall of Laundry Bubbles at 2300 E. 14th St.
Also, again, So grateful for @cdnpaws for giving us the permission to use these walls and really do some different things for Des Moines. She has been extremely gracious for letting us do all of this.
#ThirdSpaceDSM #ThirdSpace #DesMoines #DSM #Iowa #PublicArt #Mural #Murals #DSMPublicArt #DesMoinesPublicArt #StreetArt #SprayPaint #GraffitiArt #Graffitiartist #streetartist #SprayArt #KobraPaint #LaundryBubbles #ArtBuildsCommunity
This post is long overdue, but just two weeks back, one of our final murals was completed by the incredibly talented @adept_alchemist .
I am so happy to have this beautiful new piece up on the streets of Des Moines for the whole city to enjoy.
I can't thank Adept enough for coming out and sharing his work. It wasn't easy to make this happen. We were both working around busy schedules and paint color shortages and all of the usual stuff that comes along with murals, but he got it done.
If you know Adept you probably know he is one of the most genuinely good people you can meet in Des Moines. He's always humble and always willing to share what he can with the community. Personally, I was deeply grateful for his willingness to share his thoughts and expertise with me over the past few months. And on top of all this he's just a dope artist. So please give him a follow, support his art, give him a shout out on social media or go get a tattoo from him over at @5pointstudios
#AdeptAlchemist
#ThirdSpaceDSM #ThirdSpace #DesMoines #DSM #Iowa #PublicArt #Mural #Murals #DSMPublicArt #DesMoinesPublicArt #StreetArt #SprayPaint #GraffitiArt #Graffitiartist #streetartist #SprayArt #KobraPaint #LaundryBubbles #ArtBuildsCommunity
Just another perspective of @rcheatemartist 's new mural, up at 1215 6th Ave. Get out and see it if you have not already.
#SenatorJohnLewis #BlackLivesMatter
Deeply appreciative of @rcheatemartist for coming out this week to create this incredibly beautiful and vibrant tribute to Senator John Lewis.
Please go out and see it for yourself. 1215 6th Ave. On the south wall of University Laundry.
#SenatorJohnLewis #BlackLivesMatter
#DesMoines #Iowa #DSMPublicArt #DSMmural #PublicArtForAll #SprayArt #Mural #StreetArt #ThirdSpaceDSM
We are rotating out a couple of our murals this month to give a few new artists a chance to put their work out there. The first one we are changing out this weekend is this wall at Laundry Bubbles 2300 E. 14th St.
Big thank you to the homies @ackzilla and @wileyart for coming through last fall and sharing their work and color with our community. If you love this piece please get out there this week and snap a few pics, share your photos and show a little love to our artists.
Thank you again to Laundry Bubbles for giving us access to these walls and for allowing us the freedom to be creative.
Stay tuned for what's coming up next.
Repost from @desmoinesblm
Get out today and support #BlackOutTuesday and support black owned local businesses here in #DesMoines if you can.
#DSMBLM
#SHOPBLK
#BLKOUTBINGO
Please follow @desmoinesblm and support them with funding. I am posting a link to their Go Fund Me in our bio.
Then please take the time to actually go through this list of demands and read up on them yourself. Put in the work. Google some of these bills and learn about them and why they are important.
I learned a lot about HF2532 today that I really was not aware of before this. If you have questions about why this bill is problematic and needs to be voted down I can share what I learned and point you toward resources where you can learn more.
If you are overwhelmed trying to stay up on all of these, pick one or two issues and make them your thing and share what you know with others.
We don't know what we don't know. But we can help each other get caught up.
It is never an easy time to be an artist, but it is an especially difficult time to be an artist right now. This is why we are asking you to please show as much support as you possibly can for all of our artists. Give them a follow, go out and visit their murals, or even better yet, visit their websites to purchase artwork or commission them to create something unique for you!
To do this you can visit our new artist page on our website. Here you can easily find links to websites and social media for each artist we have worked with since 2017. (Link in bio)
The order in which our artists are listed on the site corresponds directly with our handy downloadable map (also available on the website) So if you are in need of a way to spend some of this social distance time, why not spend it driving around checking out murals.
Finally, to all of our artists, followers, and friends, please be well and take care of yourselves and those around you in this time. We will see each other on the other side of this soon.
#ThirdSpaceDSM #ThirdSpace #DesMoines #DSM #Iowa #PublicArt #Mural #Murals #DSMPublicArt #DesMoinesPublicArt #StreetArt #SprayPaint #GraffitiArt #Graffitiartist #streetartist #SprayArt #KobraPaint #LaundryBubbles #PublicArtForThePeople #PublicArtForAll #PublicSpaceForAll #ArtBuildsCommunity#communitythroughart #OtherSideDeMoines #OtherDesMoines #OtherDSM
Just in time for the return of spring. The newest edition of our mural map is available for download! Find it on our website or click the link in our bio to get your own.
There are now 25 unique murals scattered throughout the North, East, and South sides of the city, for all to enjoy. We are so proud of each of one these pieces and are continually humbled by, and grateful to, the incredible local and national artists who have shared their work with us.
If you are out and about checking out these murals please show our artists some love. Be sure to tag us and our artists! This helps us build the case for why murals and public art matter in Des Moines, and that is something we always need help with.
#ThirdSpaceDSM #ThirdSpace #DesMoines #DSM #Iowa #PublicArt #Mural #Murals #DSMPublicArt #DesMoinesPublicArt #StreetArt #SprayPaint #GraffitiArt #Graffitiartist #streetartist #SprayArt #KobraPaint #LaundryBubbles #MSPaintMaster #PaintPadMaster #ChurchOfLadderDayPaint #PublicArtForThePeople #PublicArtForAll #PublicSpaceForAll #ArtBuildsCommunity#CommunotyThroughArt #EastDesMoines #SouthSideDesMoines #NorthSideDesMoines #OtherDesMoines
