4.
“This is Us” is an exciting addition to the art scene in North Kansas City. According to its artist,
Spaceship Zulu; “[This] mural hopes to represent the past, present, and future of the area known today as North Kansas City.” The mural is found on the north wall of the
Brewkery on
1443 Swift Street.
Back in 1849, North Kansas City was still just an unincorporated little town called Harlem. Though few even know this town existed, Harlem was a major starting point for many of the cowboys, trappers, and frontiersmen of the time. Harlem was one of the main riverboat ferry drop-offs for those heading once, and even managed to rival Westport in size and prominence.
In the early 1900s, industrialization transformed Harlem from a rough and tumble Wild West town to an urban center. Urbanization is represented by the mural’s depiction of the young woman from the 1900s.
The present is represented in the mural by modern design elements of the brushstrokes used; benday dots and the fade of color were used to indicate that North Kansas City has a thriving arts community.
To represent looking forward to the future, the words “North Kansas City” were painted in big, bold letters placed directly at the piece’s center, providing a glimpse of what lies on the horizon for the city.