On the Charlotte mural tour: Matt Hooker and Matt Moore, not growing up, from time to time

Matt Hooker and Matt Moore have been a mural team for four years, and have become two of the most well-known muralists in Charlotte. The duo say they have lost track of how many murals they’ve completed, and keep multiple projects in the works. They recently added UNC Charlotte graduate Tucker Sward to their team as an apprentice.

In July, Hooker, Moore and Sward painted two murals in the renovated 300 South Brevard office building for Stream Realty. Moore says they’re a “testament to the imagination.”

In the first, two boys look across the sky at an upside-down Charlotte skyline, one with a can of spray paint and a telescope, the other with a paintbrush and a newspaper for a hat. “It kind of mutated almost into this autobiography of these two kids turning the city upside down with their imagination,” says Hooker. “They say that artists are just children that never grow up,” says Moore. “I feel that from time to time.”

In the second is what looks to be a superhero or Peter Pan-like character, swooping through the center of the city. The viewer is looking up, surrounded by buildings on all sides, watching as the magical figure flies to the top with a stream of orange, yellow and greens following behind. Comparing the two murals, Hooker says, “That one’s kind of ‘Set your sights for the dream.’ This one is ‘You got it, now what are you going to do with it?’ ”

Moore and Hooker say they want people to apply their own narrative. Moore says instead of asking “Why?” ask “Why not?” Some of their other murals can be seen at Queen Park Social and Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "On the Charlotte mural tour: Matt Hooker and Matt Moore, not growing up, from time to time."