I grew up in New York on Long Island. Me and my friends would get into trouble and spray paint on whatever we could. We didn’t have trains in my neighborhood; so, we painted on warehouses, eighteen wheelers, or whatever we could. I developed from there.
Mural
I do whatever I feel like painting or whatever the wall allows. I have no ideas; no expectations. I see what the wall wants painted.
Most of the time, I am trying not to stick in a certain theme. Most of the time, I will do letters. I will take the same letters and put them in different orders, different styles, change the way I do a 3D (dimensional), change the color, change the heights, change the widths, change the thickness, change the way they pop out.
To me, this symbolizes that each person may have different dreams but are equally valuable. The key is giving back so others can grow and become who they are destined to become.
One Sunday morning I decided to take a break from my Covid-19 quarantine and take a car ride. While riding down Mt Vernon Avenue, I saw a sign that said, “Affirm Black Life”. I thought I saw an arrow, so I decided to park my car to investigate.
My team and I are here for the kids. We serve meals Tuesday through Saturday to kids eighteen and under. We are an emergency food site in partnership with Children’s Hunger Alliance. We are serving breakfast, and dinner for the next day to families that roll through the fresh market from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
It is the largest fresh food distribution in central Ohio and one of the top twenty in the country. We are seeing more than seven hundred people a day.
I think that murals are my way of self-expression and protest. I have a new born; so, I’m not on the front lines. This is my way of having a voice in the fight. My message: is our goal is peace and equality.
I love the splash of color! In my opinion, it looks much better than seeing plywood all over downtown. It also allows residents and visitors to be exposed to and appreciate some of the talent of the artists who live in the area.
I love watching artists collaborate and create!
The piece with the toilet paper! As time goes on, it is easy to forget how scarce toilet paper was earlier this year. Toilet paper was almost like currency. Lysol is still hard to find! Who would have thought toilet paper, disinfecting wipes, and Lysol spray would be so scarce/valuable?
After the widespread access of videos showing horrific police brutality, the employees of Martini’s asked me to come down and leave a positive message for the community not only express grief, but also to provide comfort and solace.
I love seeing artists create live. One of my favorite festivals was cancelled (Columbus Arts Festival). I know, I know they had virtual activities. But, to me it’s not the same. I love being able to interact with the artists.
In my opinion this work represents unity. Just by viewing the artists pictures it is obvious that they are different. Each artist worked together bringing their talents to produce a cohesive piece.
In my opinion, it looks much better than seeing plywood all over downtown. It also allows residents and visitors to be exposed to and appreciate some of the talent of the artists who live in the area.
It was a true collaborative mural. Most of the community collaborative murals I see have an image ahead of time and the community comes and paints by numbers. This is unique because it basically was stay in your block, and your block becomes a part of the bigger picture.
Now, we are generating 65,000 hours a year in volunteer service that is valued to the city at about 1.5 million dollars. We have 11,000 and 60 plus people singing in weekly programs.
The murals are a way for different communities to come together, paint, and have a good time. We usually partner with a local volunteer organization or company and are always welcoming new faces to paint and be part of our family!
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