CV – Jonathan Muzacz
4505 Red River St. Unit B
Austin, TX 78751
(512)497-1492
[email protected]
https://jmuzacz.com
BIOGRAPHY
Artist/Author/Teacher Jonathan Muzacz has spent most of the last decade living, working
and traveling abroad. Always drawing and painting alongside teaching, migrant farm
labor or volunteering, Muzacz makes his mark in big colorful murals and in the minds of
the youth.
With an academic background in Sociology, Muzacz seeks to learn local customs and
cultures through immersion, then incorporate some identifiable imagery in his work. He
documents people and places with an aesthetic sensibility and a certain timeless
authenticity.
Public art, murals and picture books are widely accessible educational tools. Focusing on
visual storytelling and painting in the public eye rather than a closed gallery space,
Muzacz attempts to make his artwork accessible and free from language barriers or any
unspoken social boundaries. This open communication between artist and audience
allows Muzacz to give back to the community his artworks crafted from observation and
personal experience.
EDUCATION
2006
BA summa cum laude, Sociology, University of Texas – Austin, TX
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2004-Present
Freelance Artist, Muralist & Illustrator – Worldwide
2017-Present
Skybridge Academy – Director of Arts – Dripping Springs, TX
2009-2010, 2016
Resolution Gardens - Landscape Designer, Project Manager
2010-2012
JET Program - Assistant English Teacher - Kyoto, Japan
2007-2008
English Teacher – Sogang Language Program – Guri, South Korea
2006-2010, 2016-17 City of Austin - Totally Cool Totally Art instructor – Urban Painting
2006-2010
Austin Green Art - Resident artist and project manager – Austin, TX
EXPERTISE
Mural painting, sign painting, illustration, live painting, events, education, sculptural
fabrication, installation, project management, publishing, landscape design
GRANTS/AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
2015
2015
2013
2010
Katikati Open-Air Arts and Mural Festival juried 2nd prize (New Zealand)
Miculture Foundation featured artist (Taiwan)
Resident muralist Sakieda Organic Farm (Japan)
Texas Commission on the Arts Grant (Big Bend National Park)
SELECTED WORK HISTORY (EXHIBITIONS, COMMISSIONS & COLLECTIONS)
2016
“VERGE Winter Arts Show” Austin’s premier fine art pop-up at Aveda Institute (Austin)
“Hops for HOPE” Group show and exhibition with 30+ murals and silent auction (Austin)
“Jewart’s Gymnastics” Commissioned to paint murals and signage (Wexford, PA)
“The Grackle” Commissioned to paint an exterior feature at the Dougherty Arts Center
“Nepalese Prayer Wall” Commissioned mural at Saffron Indian Restaurant (Austin, TX)
“Fun Run” Interior murals commissioned for Cap Metro’s new fitness room (Austin, TX)
“Dia de los Peacock” Commission for private residence (Austin, TX)
“Nautical” Interior murals commissioned for Ghiilu Japanese Restaurant (Kyoto, Japan)
2015
“Crane Calligraffiti” Mural collaboration with Taiwanese calligrapher Ebix (Taipei, Taiwan)
“Tin Pan Roadhouse” Series of Americana roadhouse murals and signage (Dulan, Taiwan)
CHORUS – Public art project sponsored by the New Zealand national telecommunications
company
“Eagle Vs. Shark” Mural for Last Port Tattoo (Nelson, New Zealand)
*Featured in the Nelson Daily Mail newspaper
“Intergalactic” Large-scale mural for Nelson Roller Sports Club (Tahunanui, New Zealand)
“Stained Glass Skull & Stag” Murals for artists’ studios (Wanganui, New Zealand)
*Featured on TV1
“Greetings from Aotearoa” Vintage typography mini-mural for Katikati Open-Air Mural
and Arts Festival 2015 (Katikati, New Zealand)
*Won 2nd prize in the juried competition
2014
“Polished Steel” Commissioned interior design for an industrial furniture studio and
showroom (Melbourne, Australia)
“The Corner Store” Typeface logo for boutique apartments (Melbourne, Australia)
“Birds of a Feather” Interior mural for Thomson Street Food Store (Melbourne, Australia)
“So Fresh & So Clean” Commissioned interior typography feature wall (Houston, TX)
2013
“TAKO!” Four-story mural for 730 Intersection on Ishigaki Island (Okinawa, Japan)
“Sakieda Organic Farm” Series of flora and fauna murals and signage (Okinawa, Japan)
$7,200 crowdfunded to publish Life Is Sweet: The Story of a Sugarcane Field (August
2013)
The first ever children’s picture book about Ishigaki Island and the sugarcane harvest,
bilingual in English and Japanese with more than 60 original watercolor illustrations
*Featured in Tokyo Metropolis Magazine
2012
$6,400 crowdfunded to publish Japan 365: A Drawing-A-Day Project (May 2012)
A 432-page bilingual publication including more than 365 ball pen drawings about Japan
*Donated ¥78,000 of proceeds to local NGO Japan for Sustainability (~$800 USD)
2011
“A Drawing-A-Day Project of Japan” for 2011 documenting history, art, fashion, food,
architecture, people, current events and more with A4 ball pen sketches
*Profiled in the Kyoto Shimbun and Mainichi Newspapers
2010
“Neon Fingerlips on a Global Trek Missing a Leg” Group show at the Dougherty Arts
Center Julia C. Butridge Gallery (Austin, TX)
“Unity Between Nature & Technology” Mural for Manor New Tech High (Manor, TX)
“Festival of Children” Mural for Theater Action Project’s main office (Austin, TX)
“Jacob Payne” Tribute mural at the former 5 Pointz open-air museum (Queens, NY)
“Reading Is Fun” Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein murals (Manor, TX)
“Collaborate!” Mural with students from the inaugural Urban Art Summer Camp (Austin,
TX)
Graffiti abatement “Outdoor” Mural series for the Texas Greenbelt Association and Keep
Austin Beautiful (Austin, TX)
2009
“Sundial of the Century Plant” Texas Commission on the Arts’ grant-sponsored
permanent sculptural installation for Big Bend National Park and the San Vicente School
“One Green Step” Installation for the Green Step Initiative to encourage reducing waste,
reusing resources and recycling (Austin, TX)
“Sprout” A permanent sculptural installation and sign fabrication for Eastside Memorial
Green Tech High School (Austin, TX)
“Scoop the Poop” A collaborative sculptural installation with the Austin River Protection
Initiative (Austin, TX)
“Japanese Torii Transformation” Mural for Open Door Preschool (Austin, TX)
“Donkey Donuts” Interior commissioned murals (Hanoi, Vietnam)
“Overstay” Interior design mural for a backpacker’s hostel (Bangkok, Thailand)
2008
“Dooky the Dinosaur” installation in a traditional Korean village (Seoul, South Korea)
“Miles Davis” Mural painting for the “Eternal Reflections” jazz club (Daegu, South Korea)
2007
“Mount Blackmore” Mural painted with high school students depicting notable AfricanAmerican figures from popular music, literature, comedy and politics (Austin, TX)
“Black Butterfly” Mural for a local small business beauty boutique (Austin, TX)
“Life Cycle of a Monarch” Mural for Monarch Food Store (Austin, TX)
2006
Group show and courtyard mural at Gallery 19 in the Heights (Houston, TX)
2004-2005
Live painting at the Cedar Street Market (Austin, TX)
Live painting at Union Square Park (New York, NY)
MEDIA LINKS
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/71566192/mural-painter-hopes-to-brighten-city
http://nihongogo.com/2013/08/capturing-japan-in-365-sketches/
http://metropolis.co.jp/features/metro-daily/life-is-sweet/