Shanty Town Pub mural

Shanty Town has blessed the Springfield neighborhood with a new work of art. A top-to-bottom mural on the Westside of the Shanty Town Pub by artists Shaun Thuston and Bernie (last name?) from Inksmith and Rogers Tattoo. Shaun contributed the baboon and Bernie did the lettering.

I asked Ian Ranne, co-owner of Shanty Town about the mural and what inspired it. Here’s what he said:

The inspiration? I don’t know. I’m real big into art in public places and have been very into looking at graffiti and spray paint art since I was a little kid.

I am not an artist myself, but me and Shaun (Thurston) pretty much grew up together, and him being the sick artist he is, anytime i get “access” to a blank wall I call him first. He also was commissioned by me to do the guard on the London Bridge wall and the infamously short lived Asamov mural.

The whole thing took them about 5 hours. Why the baboon? You would have to ask Shaun…. I supply the canvas and offer to buy paint, he pretty much does whatever he wants and it ALWAYS looks really good.

We really just hope the neighborhood likes it and accepts it as a gift from Shantytown. Hopefully with support from “the powers that be” there will be lots more, around the whole building, the outside, and other blank and/or blighted walls around town.

I saw Shaun at Shanty Town Saturday night and asked him about the inspiration for the mural, but I’ll be damned if I remember exactly what he said. You see I had been at the bar for quite some time when Shaun arrived and, well you know how things go. So Shaun, I know you read the blog from time to time. Can you chime in and descibe your inspiration for the baboon?

As for how the Springfield neighbors feel, the emotions are mixed:

The mural is really cool. I was there when they were working on it…took five hours. He worked from a National Geographic picture and wow…I was impressed at how they started with cinder block and how the mural progressed. It really fits with the pub and livens up that corner. The business sign that faces the road…simply “Shanty Town Pub” with hours and address, in sedate small block letters, serves its purpose as well…

You call that “dressed up”? Spray painted graffitti bubble letters - and is that an orangutan?

In my opinion, the mural is a perfect fit for the vibe of Shanty Town Pub. Hip, urban and fun.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 9:33 am and is filed under Springfield. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.