by KRISTEN SENZ
Trenton Musch sees walls as opportunities. Using the smooth, clean lines produced by applying consistent pressure to the top of a spray can, Musch, a.k.a. “Moosy,” turns ordinary walls into large-scale works of art.
With a grid system to keep his proportions in check, he relaxes into the sound of the spray paint as he works. The 20-year-old artist sees it as his mission to add “color, wonder, and joy” to public spaces.
“I hope these murals can be a source of pride and conversation for the community,” he says. Musch is creating a cohesive series of murals that will eventually span the length of The Warehouse near the outdoor skate park in Bloomington’s Switchyard Park. The first mural, at the building’s northeast corner, depicts Musch’s ex-girlfriend with a serene expression. Her hands are bound by straight, white strings—a motif he intends to repeat in each piece to convey his own questioning of free will.
“Is it you in control? Is it a god-like figure? Or is it more of the environment around you that is influencing what happens? That’s the idea I’m going for,” he explains, “and I’m really hitting it hard in my murals right now.”
Being commissioned to create something so large and visible is a dream assignment for a young muralist like Musch. It has already led to other paying jobs, including at a bar in Bloomfield and The Warehouse’s indoor skate park, where he’s painting pro skaters Tony Hawk, Lizzie Armanto, and Steve Caballero against a background of broken skateboards, symbolizing the many failed attempts along their path to success.
Musch will be a junior at Indiana University this fall. After graduation, he envisions a career in public art. “That’s the dream,” he says.
Musch comes from a family of creatives in Rensselaer, Indiana, a town of 6,000 about 30 minutes north of Lafayette. “My hometown was a small, dying town,” he says.
That was, until his family helped develop an art walk showcasing the work of regional artists. As a 15-year-old kid, he watched as muralists beautified his tired town, turning drab facades into striking focal points.
The experience inspired him to “go big” and to employ smart design to enliven the world around him. “With pieces this big, nothing seems impossible,” he says. “No wall is really stopping me anymore.”
