Last weekend, Cultural Tourism DC sponsored a bunch of tours around town. One of them was a mural tour led by artist G. Byron Peck.If you notice a mural in the city, there is a good chance Peck did it. Pictured is the Duke Ellington mural on the True Reformer Building on U Street.
Appropriate that the mural ended up on the True Reformer Building, since it was in that building that Ellington had his first paying gig. He made 25 cents according to our guide.
Also on the tour was the Black Family Reunion Mural up 14th street, the Mayan Mural on Florida and 18th, the Columbia Heights Mural on 14th and Clifton, and the Dupont Circle Fountain Mural on Connecticut.
Truth be told, I skipped out after the first two. A tour has to be really good to keep me herded along with the crowd. It was all moving a bit slow, all the more so because one of the volunteers along for the ride kept interjecting.
Also, while I liked the murals, I didn't love them. All of Peck's murals have a very graphic quality to them. I prefer work that is a little more organic. More importantly, I found them a little topically bland. There was little passion and no controversy. Undoubtedly, the fact that many were painted with support from large organizations, like McDonalds, contributed to that.
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