Mike Norice always knew he’d be an artist.
Born and raised in Watts, he began drawing as a 2-year-old. Although his love for art was always nurtured by his parents, he never dreamed how celebrated his murals would become.
“They are my conversation and love letter to my community, so it’s me giving back to the community,” Norice said.
Norice started his mural project in 2015, displaying encouraging messages throughout South LA, Inglewood and other areas around the city. With the permission of property owners, who often request his work to deter graffiti, he painted murals with words like “honor,” “keep smiling” and “believe.” His first mural, “forgiveness,” is located at Slauson and Hoover avenues.
“No one ever commissioned it,” Norice said. “It was just something I wanted to see in my neighborhood as positive affirmations for people to see going and coming from school, just walking down the street, driving down the street, whenever.”
So far, he’s completed 15 of the 20 murals he plans to create throughout LA. After finishing the LA project, he said he wants to create the same murals in other cities around the country. The project also led him to start a nonprofit organization, Artfully United, in 2017 to place inspirational murals in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Jason Murray, a lifelong friend of Norice, has been the organization’s head of community engagement since 2015. He’s responsible for locating walls and securing permission to have murals painted. Murray said he even sits down with gang members in certain areas before a mural begins to help decrease potential vandalism.
“One, I look at this like it’s a ministry. Two, Mike is one of my closest friends, so anything that he does, I’m going to support automatically. And three, this is a way for me to be a part of giving back to my community,” Murray said.
The project hasn’t gone unnoticed by the community. Norice’s work has been honored by the California State Assembly, the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Girls Club of Los Angeles and the California State Senate.
“Your outstanding contributions to beautifying the community with your messages of hope and peace in a simplistic, yet profound manner that touches the heart and inspires love to all who sees them,” the state senate’s certificate of recognition read.
Now, Norice is using his voice to inspire other people to pursue art. In collaboration with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Hilltop Cafe on Slauson Avenue, he recently spoke about his life and work as part of a monthly art series facilitated by Jamal Hasef, head of art for Hilltop Cafe.
“Mike, he’s a prolific muralist here in LA. He is really making changes in the community. You can see his work everywhere throughout Los Angeles, whether it be in Watts, Compton, Mid-City. I mean, it’s everywhere,” Hasef said.
Norice was also featured in a documentary, “Artfully United,” about his family, his life growing up in Watts and his artwork. He said the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and multiple film festivals in Brooklyn, New York. Norice also said he’s preparing to distribute the film on streaming platforms and hopes his story will spark others to get involved.
“If you see a void in your neighborhood, just do it,” Norice said. “Don’t wait for a program or something or someone to tell you what to do for your own neighborhood.”
