‘Look to the future.’ Local artist unveils mural on new Starbucks in downtown Fresno

There is a new Starbucks on Tulare Street in Downtown Fresno, but it has a unique feature that stands out from the rest, a Fresno-themed mural in front of the building.

The artwork has two hummingbirds flying with the Pacific Southwest Building farther off in the background. The artist, Chance James, made the mural. He has specialized in art and photography for about 17 years. Local developers contacted him about the mural for Starbucks because the developer has admired his past art pieces.

“They asked me to submit something that could then be approved by Starbucks,” said James. “But, they sort of gave me some freedom to make the mural.”

The approval took a week or two. James said he wanted the art to reflect the representation of the city and the future. He chose the hummingbirds because he had included them in past pieces and people enjoy them, he said.

“They represent a lot of what I feel like Fresno needs, which is kind of renewal,” said James. “There’s a lot of tradition in the hummingbird, that points to renewal, rebirth, and the look to the future.”

James has been living in Fresno for a long time, particularly Downtown. He notices that there have been new homes and stores that people can shop around. But he said that Downtown lacks “true sense of community” with its mix of artists and business communities.

His vision is for people to come together as a community in Downtown Fresno, so they can be proud of it and see the potential for future growth. James hopes that people can feel that way when walking by Starbucks and seeing the mural.

On James’ Instagram account he posted the various stages of creating the mural, such as using spray paint, and stenciling to help with lettering so it’s clean between the lines. He also shows the freehand drawings he used to help create the basic shapes for the mural.

James’ mural aligned with Starbucks goals to have more art in their stores under their Global Art Program. According to Variety Affairs, an entertainment magazine, their goal is to have local artists draw to represent the community where they live.

James believes that every store should encourage artists to create murals or paintings inside because it gives more awareness to the public. He mentions that it helps corporate, national, international, or local brands to be invested in the community and gives more art accessibility to the public.

“I had someone who actually works at Starbucks approach me and had a conversation about how murals work,” said James. “It’s a cool thing that even just from seeing me do it… he could do it, which it’s a good thing.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2024 at 10:52 AM.