JUST FOR KICKS

JUST FOR KICKS

Driven through historic Springfield recently? You may have noticed a new 15-foot, soccer-themed mural. Located at 347 E. Eighth Street, the mural promoted Goals Jax, a pop-up that hosted and showed all 80 Copa American and UEFA Euro soccer matches — in 30 days. The pop-up, created in collaboration with Riverside United Soccer Club, shared a goal with bringing more people into the world of soccer and the Jacksonville community.

Words by Emily Cannon

The mural was created by local photographer Ally Brody and muralist Jason Tetlak and features actual players from Jacksonville’s Riverside United Soccer Club (with photos shot by Brody with the enlarged images wheatpasted onto the wall). Brody was especially excited about the project as it was the first time her work appeared as street art. And she wasn’t the only one thrilled about the project.

“The community was very excited for this mural,” Brody said. “We would get people stopping by and honking while they were working on it.” She added how much she felt supported in this new endeavor and welcomed by the neighborhood.

While the vibrantly colored, larger than life 15foot mural is the main attention grabber, there is a smaller mural on the side of the building on Eighth and Walnut streets. This second piece is in black and white accented with a yellow border. Because the murals are made of photos instead of paint alone, she said, it makes the murals more realistic, Brody said, but they are more susceptible to damage from wind and rain than traditional painted murals.

Though the pop-up has closed up shop, the artwork that brought it to life remains. Brody had such a positive experience in seeing it come to life she said she would like to do more mural with local artists on a similar scale. She’d also like to see more local artists collaborating with photographers to create art like hers and Tetlak’s.

In the meantime, you can find more of Brody’s work at allybrody.com and Tetlak’s work at art.tetlak.com.