Saturday, May 16, 2015

"U District B Side" - Emily Gussin


Installed on the NE 43rd Street gate on the eastern side of the Gold Wall in the U-District, this artwork introduces what will be, as the surrounding art grows, a collection of beautiful and unique stories.


U District B Side by Emily Gussin, 2015

Shiga in the mural, is a reference to Andy Shiga; a pacifist, a champion of freedom, minority equality, and anti-war causes. The store he started, and that still bears his name, has been a U-District fixture since the late 1950’s.


This artwork tells the history of the U-District, illustrating stories and events that helped make the neighborhood what it is today. The artist, Emily Gussin, spent time in the U-District to get a good feel for scale and researching content and context. She included historical references both in wording and imagery.  The mural’s street names refer to the old street names from the former "Brooklyn" neighborhood: Broadway is today's Brooklyn NE and Dartmouth is today's NE 43rd Street. View a map of old street names from 1893 can be found here.

Additional artworks will soon be on view at the U-District, Roosevelt, and Northgate construction sites.