You’re All Welcome Here, 2019

Mike Stilkey

10 x 25 foot hand-painted mural

August 18, 2019 – May 1, 2022

West Hollywood City Hall, 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard

You’re All Welcome Here illustrates the City’s all-inclusive joie de vivre. The City is one that celebrates its people, their spirit and energy, and their uniqueness’s and talents. In this work, unique animal characters dance together exuberantly atop a rainbow crosswalk. Each character is singular in their appearance while simultaneously exuding connection in unison with each other. Anthropomorphism is a strong theme in the artist’s work. The artist notes “when we can recognize the connection points between ourselves, whether animal or human, it also helps us value the diverse gifts that all of us bring to our life experience.”

Mike Stilkey (b. 1975) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He has always been attracted to painting and drawing on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, and also on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. His work is reminiscent of Weimar-era German expressionism and his style has been described by some as capturing features of artists ranging from Edward Gorey to Egon Schiele. 

His work has been exhibited throughout the United States as well as internationally, at galleries and museums such as the Bristol City Museum in the UK, Bakersfield Museum Of Art in Bakersfield, CA, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ, Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco, CA, Kinsey/DesForges Gallery in Culver City, CA, David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, CO, Gilman Contemporary Gallery, Ketchum, ID, and Rice University Gallery, Houston, TX. He has also created numerous large-scale installations internationally, in Turin, Italy; Bern, Switzerland; Manila, Philippines; and Hong Kong and Beijing, China.

AUGMENTED REALITY

In 2020 the Arts Division received an innovation grant to pilot an augmented reality (AR) installation over the "You're All Welcome Here" mural by Mike Stilkey. Augmented reality is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image over a real world view through the use of a camera on a smart device (like your phone). The series of three AR animations, designed by Eyejack in consultation with the muralist, come to life depending on which group of animals you point your device at. The AR will remain active through the mural installation.

VIEW THE AR

1. Scan the QR Code to download the Eyejack app

2. Hold your smartphone camera in front of the artwork (in-person) or an image of the artwork (from the comfort of your own home laptop)

3. Watch the artwork come to life on your smartphone!

For questions or to report a damaged or vandalized artwork, contact Rebecca Ehemann, (323) 848-6846 or rehemann@weho.org. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, please call, TTY: (323) 848-6496. To learn more information about the City of West Hollywood and its arts programs visit www.weho.org/arts.