Matthew Mazzotta | Creating openings for beauty to erupt

After spending time painting murals and gaining insight into the public art realm, I have often wondered how such large works come to life. It’s one thing to dream up an idea; it’s another to work out the logistics to actually bring it to life. I spoke with public artist and TEDx speaker, Matthew Mazzotta, about how public art can change us and how he brings his ideas to life.

Inside Tampa International Airport, FloridaHe mentioned something interesting- he saw that in activism you try to put your viewpoint on a sign, make it as visible as possible and hope someone going past sees it. He wanted to flip the script and ask, “What if that message was inviting so people would actively go into that space and be curious?”

RISE, San Diego Airport Public art can have a lot of boundaries- from funding to getting selected and having others see your idea. I spoke to Matthew about handling rejection and his viewpoint. “Even if you get the rejection letter, it’s still like I’m in this thing and it makes me feel good.”He has also seen from previous projects that even when things get hard and it feels like he’s hit a dead end and it won’t be possible, people come together, solutions are found, and things work themselves out which has now given him confidence going into new projects.

Cloud House, Springfield I wanted to know more about why he creates, the impact of public art and how environments shape us. “We all have these experiences in this lifetime, and you get shown little bits of beauty, and I saw the potential to have that beauty around the world more. So I think all the work I do is basically making little openings for that beauty to erupt.”

Local Habitat, TexasHis works show the beauty, but it also allows more of ourselves to be revealed. “I know that everyone has much more dimension than they offer up in day-to-day life- can art be the vehicle that allows that to be shown?” And for public art, our environments shape how we relate to each other and act; a space may make you feel welcomed and safe, it may make you want to walk into, it may make you feel safe to talk to someone or make you want to navigate out of. Matthew has purposefully used the environment as a way to create states of awe and wonder in us and make social impact at large.

Busycle Project You can find more of Matthew’s work here on his website, Ted Talk , Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook .

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