Now you can wear Houston muralist Donkeeboy’s work
Donkeeboy, a visual artist and Houston native, has quite the cool-kid following. He’s a favorite of hip, young chefs, brewmasters and sneaker heads. A self-described entry on his Instagram bio reads “remixer of pop culture.” Those in the know recognize his use of double entendres, puns and mashups on large-scale murals around town. Graffitistyle script and a heavy dose of Lone Star pride are part of his calling card.
Should you meet him in person, say “Hey, Alex” — as in Alex Roman Jr. — hold the Donkeeboy. Skeptics called him “burro,” the Spanish word for donkey, early in his art career; he later reclaimed the knock as his pseudonym.
Should you covet his work, get your credit card ready.
Last week, Roman added “T-shirt designer” to his growing repertoire. He’s one of five creatives who partnered with Life Is Good, a positive lifestyle and apparel brand, as part of its new Artist Series Collection. Other participants include Atticus Poetry, Melissa Koby, Shelby and Sandy, and Steffi Tsai. Styles for both men and women cost $28 a pop, plus there’s a charitable incentive to add-to-cart.
“What I like most about the brand is that they’re all about optimism and spreading positivity,” Roman said. “They donate to kids and give back. I just knew that if I made a design that was strong enough, I would be contributing to that.”
The retail company donates 10 percent of net profits to the Life Is Good Kids Foundation. The nonprofit’s signature Playmaker Program provides more than 14,500 child care professionals with training, support and workshops to help them better understand trauma and compassion-informed care.
With those initiatives in mind, Roman was inspired by the message of unity.
“Recently, I’d been painting murals that are difficult, about injustice,” he explained. “It was nice to be able to work on something else that was all positive.”
Last year, Roman and his mother, Sylvia Roman, aka Donkeemom, teamed to paint two murals: one in Third Ward to honor George Floyd and another at Taqueria Del Sol honoring Vanessa Guillen.
“We grew up in that neighborhood,” Roman said. He and his mom leaned on the community for feedback and support to complete Guillen’s mural. “They were big ones. We had to do a bunch of interviews.”
Designing T-shirts proved a much more lighthearted process. Roman incorporated some of Life Is Good’s existing branding with hands shaking or fists bumping.
Even though the apparel company reached out to him about collaborating, there was still pressure to land the gig.
“You never know if your artwork is going to get through or not. I had to submit work that I’d done in the past and why I would be a good fit for this project,” he says. “I was super nervous and anxious and losing sleep. I love their brand, it’s been around since the ’90s. My friends’ dads would wear it.”
This wasn’t Roman’s first retail rodeo. He’s designed T-shirts for 8th Wonder Brewery & Distillery, too, where some of his artwork is on display. Other pieces are currently on view at Riel, Original Ninfa’s Uptown, Nobi Public House and BBVA Stadium. Those make for a good selfie, but nothing says Life Is Good like wearing it on your sleeve.