Jason Keam

Jason Keam is a Long Beach native who graduated from the Digital Media program at Otis College of Art and Design.  His background includes storyboarding, animation, and visual effects. He was named the 2015 Best of Long Beach in the category of Best Up-and-Coming Artist: Visual Art, and his involvement in the Long Beach art scene has only grown since then.

In 2017, Keam worked on his first mural, assisting Steven Harrington at the Coachella music festival. After receiving encouragement on a job well done, Keam says he started getting serious. He became familiar with POW! WOW! while assisting muralist James Haunt the year before, and again participated by helping artist Kevin Leons in 2017.

Keam was asked to create “Mascot Marathon” for POW! WOW! Long Beach in 2018 and describes how the experience has been positive for him,

“Sometimes making art can be a lonely journey but festivals like Pow Wow make you realize that there is a bigger community, who share the same love for art. Plus any one wants to make art or any discipline should just start and keep going and keep advancing because you might surprise yourself.”

Like many of the POW! WOW! murals, Keam’s “Mascot Marathon” involved volunteers as well as the artist. In working with other members of the community, Keam has encouraged other people to keep pushing themselves to grow. Keam recounts how a volunteer scared of heights painted the top of the mural and “surprised herself.”

Written by Amelia Nixon


Sources: http://www.jasonkeam.com/, https://www.otis.edu/news/alumnus-jason-keam-opens-peoples-studio-long-beach, http://artslb.org/meet-the-pow-wow-long-beach-2018-mural-artists/

2018

Mascot Marathon

Along the side and back of the Expo Arts Center building stands Jason Keam’s mural “Mascot Marathon.” The mural was commissioned by POW! WOW! Long Beach for its 2018 summer festival and adorns the entire west and south walls, measuring 25 feet high and wrapping 250 feet around the building. Visitors will have to enter the adjacent parking lot or alleyway to see “Mascot Marathon.” The mural brings whimsy to an otherwise ordinary and often forgotten space. In the predominantly mustard-colored mural, characters representing school mascots playfully chase each other. Keam found inspiration for “Mascot Marathon” when talking with a kid while skating. The child explained how he hated the stressful and competitive nature of school, and the artist understood because he went through the same feelings as a child. After assuring the kid to keep going, Keam realized he wanted to get people talking about schools in Long Beach by painting representations of their mascots, saying, “…when I think of mascots, I think of campy school pride and when your school was losing they knew how to bring your energy back up and inspire you to win. So my concept was to have these mascots endlessly and playfully racing around the building and inspire kids … to just keep on going and not be discouraged by other people and maybe understand everybody is probably feeling the same way.” After finalizing his message, Keam looked back at his previous work and drew sketches with cohesive concepts and colors. He relied on friends for feedback before moving on to his final design. Because of the week-long time crunch and the large expanse of wall he had to cover, Keam used several techniques to transfer his design to the walls, including projection and a grid system, finishing with black outlining. Written by Amelia Nixon


Sources: https://lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/your-complete-guide-to-pow-wow-long-beach-2018/, http://artslb.org/meet-the-pow-wow-long-beach-2018-mural-artists/

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