Josef Norris (full name Anthony Josef Norris, born April 14, 1965) is an American artist who has made public
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s and
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
portraits.
Work
Norris has created more than 100 murals throughout the United States. He has been commissioned to create murals for
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
Coffee Company, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, San Francisco Neighborhood Beautification Fund, the City of Oakland, MUNI, and the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks.
He was commissioned in 1998 by Starbucks to create a mural at a San Francisco location, and by the Neighborhood Beautification Fund to paint a mural on top of
Harvey Milk's camera shop. In 2004 he was commissioned by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program to create "Camilla's Dream". In 2003 he created the "Performing Arts Mural" located at the Performing Arts Garage at Gough and Fulton Streets. Others, including the 2008 "Jalisa", are located in neighborhoods throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Norris was the founder and director of Kid Serve, a non-profit organization that worked with youth to create public art in their communities. In 2008 Kid Serve won an award from San Francisco Beautiful for the mosaic murals created with high school students along Geary Boulevard, including the mural A Sign of Hope. Kid Serve did more than 80 youth mural projects with Bay Area kids from 1999 to 2011, including the Fell Street Mural Project in 2009 with students from San Francisco's Ida B. Wells High School.
Arrest and sentencing
On June 2, 2011 Norris was arrested by US
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents for possessing
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
; over 600 pornographic images of children were found on his home computer, according to an
arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property.
Canada
Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
filed in federal court in San Francisco.
Norris' personal web site and Kid Serve site were subsequently deactivated. Norris pleaded guilty to the charges, and in March 2012 he was sentenced to six years in prison.
References
External links
Huffington Post Report "Anthony Josef Norris, San Francisco Nonprofit Leader, Gets Prison In Child Porn Case" March 29, 2012W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Learning In Deed, Project profile interview, October 1, 2003San Francisco Unified School District Press Release, "Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School Pays Tribute to Dolores Huerta," February 10, 2003*
ttp://www.thewesternedition.com/?c=119&a=1244 Western Edition.com, "Local High School Unveils New Mural," January 2, 2009SF Mosaic.com News, Travel Diary, "Josef Norris Mural Unveiling," 2005San Francisco Beautiful Newsletter, Vol. 21, #3, Fall 2007*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110903222930/http://www.americanmosaics.org/sama.aspx?MID=15&PID=58 Society of American Mosaic Artists, Members Meeting and Presentation, March 2009Gateway High School Press Release "Gateway High School Students Unveil a Mural of Hope," June 5, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Josef
Artists from San Francisco
American muralists
1965 births
Living people
Eastern Michigan University alumni