Gavin Bird’s Murals are Full of Wildlife, History, and IG Pic Opportunities Worth Trailing
Gavin Bird started his art career as a tattoo apprentice, penning ink requests on a reasonably tight canvas.
More than five years ago, it seemed like a great way to display his work, but drawing images that could be lifelong on a canvas as sacred as skin ultimately didn’t sit well with him.
"I'm just a very anxious individual, and tattooing something permanent on someone's body was driving me crazy," said Bird.
Finding His Canvas: A Return to Acrylic Painting
Bird went back to his safe space, painting with acrylic on canvas, like he'd been doing since he was able to hold a brush in his hand. A second-generation artist, Bird credits his father for his talent. His dad, Joe Bird, is a Design Director at WDSU in New Orleans with extensive education in the arts. Gavin built his capacity from tattooing mystical creatures and lovers' names to painting the largest mural ever painted by a single person in Mississippi.
A Journey Through Jackson: Mississippi's Largest Solo Mural
The mural, "A Journey Through Jackson," is 478 feet long and 10 feet high, and is located along the Museum Trail at Belhaven Heights Park in Jackson. The mural depicts the city's beauty, historical charm, and elegance through diversity, monuments, and pure artistic nostalgia. It reflects the culturally rich city of Jackson, and its hills, fields, and waterways.
Portal to Pearl River: An Optical Illusion in Belhaven
Bird's most recent mural, "Portal to Pearl River," also tapers along the Landscape and Environmentalist Painter lines. It's a crosswalk mural that intersects with some popular Belhaven community restaurants and businesses, including Elvie's and Fertile Ground Beer Company. Spectators must observe the mural from a specific angle to make it appear multi-dimensional. Looking at it differently will only give a long, stretched viewpoint.
"The stretch was implemented so that if you view it from the top of the steps between Wing Mouth and Mayday Ice Cream, it looks as if it's just popping off the ground, three-dimensional," said Bird, formerly a skateboarder looking to beautify and cover obscenities near The Slab, the Mill Street DIY Skatepark. "(The Belhaven Towncenter) wanted something fun and something that gives an optical illusion. The Pearl River just runs right there through Belhaven. It's a very neutral stance that touches on eco-tourism, having native fish and wildlife."
Bird painted a boat to make the image interactive, and a Black Bullhead Catfish and a Gulf Sturgeon, both of which can be found in the Pearl River. On the weekends when the road is closed, he recommends taking the unique photo opportunity "in the boat."
Evolving Techniques: Preserving Public Art in Jackson
After five years of painting murals and now working as a muralist full-time, he's learned new techniques and better ways to paint and preserve his work. Bird recently completed a facelift of his "Urban Wild" mural, painted three years ago at the end of Laurel Street in the Belhaven Community.
"It needed to be a welcoming place for people to want to get on the trail," Bird said.
Where to Find Gavin Bird's Notable Murals in Jackson
A Journey Through Jackson — Along the Museum Trail at Belhaven Heights Park
Portal to Pearl River — On Manship Street between North and Jefferson streets (Borders Wing Mouth)
Urban Wild — At the end of Laurel Street in the Belhaven Community
