Self taught and passionate about his craft, give Chris Clark a paint brush and watch the magic happen. The New Jersey native turned Florida resident has been making his mark all over the city – literally.
Clark is recognized for his talent to paint artistic murals depicting African American community role models, activists and mentors in the Jacksonville community. For the past eleven years Chris has been on the road from Tallahassee to Jacksonville painting and networking down the I-10 corridor. His pursuit of the arts and love of music is what captured his heart and his passion to create artwork that would last decades.
Chris began his journey in Jacksonville with the Reggae Roots Culture shop on Main Street discussing the areas food deserts, affordable housing debacle and community clean-up efforts. In 2017, Chris hit the jackpot when painting a mural activist Ben Frazier circled back and asked about his work, “It was Ben Frazier in the flesh. I was surprised and honored that he wanted to work with me. I heard so much about him. I smiled and we talked for hours,” said Chris. Chris and Frazier discussed his artwork and were looking forward to meeting up and creating murals throughout Duval County. Little did he know he would one day be immortalizing Frazier in a mural.
His murals around the city includes downtown on Forsyth a mural of A. Phillip Randolph; Moncrief District of Soul two portraits of neighborhood children and butterflies and the beaches where his mural creations is located on the Mayport Wall that includes area artists works. Most recently, Chris was commission by the Blue Zones Project and the Jacksonville Arts and Music School (JAMS) to paint murals near Myrtle Avenue honoring Paul Tutwiler of the Northside Community Development and Ben Frazier for their leadership and support of individuals that think outside of the Duval County box.
“I love what I do, and as long as I can continue putting a smile on citizens faces, I will continue,” he said.
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